St. Helens School Board Regular Meeting May 28, 2025

001All right. At this point, we will call the school board regular and executive session agenda for May 20 28th, 2025 to order. If you could all please stand for the pledge of allegiance. [Music] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. All right. Uh, taking roll call. And when I say your name, please say here. Uh, vice chair Trinity Monahan here. Uh, board member Kelly Smith here. Uh, board member Kelly Melody Kllins here. Uh, and board member Bill Amos is not here. And then myself is chair Matthew Douglas. All right. So, at this point, uh, an agenda approval um, items may be added or removed at this time. I would

002like to remove a couple policies for, uh, consideration. um also explaining that typically we do three readings of policies. So I wasn't prepared for the first reading to make our statements then um so then when we do historically when we do our second reading we provide the feedback and then the third time it's introduced it's usually on the consent agenda and we don't have anything to say. So I just want to pull 9.3.1 the artificial intelligence 9.3.4 4 evaluation of administrators 9.3.12 uh student health services new 9.3.18 sexual harassment and 9.3.21 criminal record check and fingerprinting. Okay. Do I have a second for this motion? I'll second. Okay. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I I All right. So, can I have some clarification, please? What do you mean by pull? Uh, just pull

003because I don't have the same definitions as you do. Just so we can discuss it later when we're introducing it and that we're not um moving it through on the consent agenda. Okay. So then later on in the conversation, there'll be time to have conversation about those and then possibly move them back on for a vote. Yes, we've done that. Is that correct? Yeah. Yes. Okay. All right. Um, are there any other motions that want to be considered at this point? What you just said really quick. Okay. Um, so I'll move that the board approves the meeting agenda as modified. All right. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I I All right, motion passes and we can go ahead and uh take those five uh aside for now. And moving on to recess

004executive session under OS 192.6602B and OS 192.6602F. uh to consider the dismissal or disciplining of or to hear complaints or charges brought against a public officer, employee, staff member, or agent unless he or she requests an open meeting. Uh to consider information or records that are exempt by law from public inspection. Representatives of the news media and designated staff shall be allowed to attend. Representatives of the news media are specifically directed not to report on any of the deliberations during the executive session except to state the general subject of the session as previously announced. No recording of the executive session is allowed without express permission from the board. No final decision may be made in executive session except for a student expulsion. At the end of executive session, we will return to the open session

005and we will go ahead and um recess at this time. Thank you very much. All right. At this point, I would like to end up bringing a bathroom recess from executive session back to regular session. Um, I would like to be able to end up pointing out on the record that while Kelly did end up participating in the first portion of the executive session, she did not participate and recused herself in the second section, left the room, and did not participate in any other aspect of that particular executive session. So, okay, at this point, um, we're moving on to number six. Um, Dr. Great. If you could. Oh, that was loud enough. So, um, welcome everyone. It's like you all. Thank you for coming to Do I really need this? Yeah. Got it. So again,

006welcome everyone to the May 28th regular session of the board of education for St. Helen School District. Uh lovely to see all of you tonight and so glad that you could come. Uh right now it is my pleasure to introduce to you our new superintendent, Dr. Karen Barreris Brown, who is sitting back there. Stand up. Um, Dr. Brown was hired through an 18person panel. Uh we had students, parents, teachers, classified community members, uh the board, administration, and uh when we were done with our uh hourong, more than hour long uh interview, she was an 180 um affirmation vote to make her our new superintendent. And so I'll say very good. That deserves a clap. And so we've been delighted that she's been here with us today all day. We've had a day of teaching and

007learning. And so just very very happy to uh be able to introduce her to you. And of course you'll see a lot more of her. She's going to be in the district working with us on the 3rd of June, the 16th and 18th of June, and June 24th through 27th. So, we have lots and lots of onboarding to do for our new superintendent. Second, it is also my pleasure to introduce to you our new assistant superintendent of teaching and learning with some work to do also in student services. Uh we're so happy he's here with us tonight. I'd like to introduce you to Jeff Burns. [Applause] Jeff was also hired through an auspicious and wonderful um process in which it was quite a long process. We're so happy that he's joined us today also for

008our teaching and learning day. He's had some great onboarding already with our teaching and learning director, Lisa Tyler, and he is going to be on and off in the district as well, working with us, uh, getting onboarded into his important new position as well. So, uh, one more round of applause for our new administration. Thank you. I don't know. I don't know what you're doing. We've got we've got the No, we have the agenda to be able to speak. Talk later. It's all right. All right. Your portions at the end of the meeting. Uh so we have next community impact awards. Um on a monthly basis, the board presents awards to students, staff, and members of the public in recognition of outstanding achievement in academics and service to the district and the community. Let's see

009who presents that. Me. Yay. My [Music] pleasure. All right. So, this is kind of my favorite time of the evening. I love presenting the community impact awards and our very first community impact award is Joanne [Applause] Domina. Come on up. Thank you so much. I'm so glad you could be here tonight. So, let me tell you a little bit about um Joanne. Joanne Domina, lovingly known as Grandma Joe, is a dedicated volunteer who makes a meaningful difference in the third grade classroom she supports at McBride Elementary. Always quick with a smile and a helping hand, she regularly assists with small groups, art projects, science lessons, and day-to-day classroom needs. Her warmth, reliability, and tireless work ethic have earned her the admiration of both students and staff. Grandma Joe is not only a source of support,

010but also a true advocate for teachers and a champion for kids. One staff member shared, "Not much keeps Grandma Joe away from our students. Her dedication and commitment are truly commendable. Her dedication and care help create a positive, welcoming learning environment, and we are better because of her. Please join us in congratulating Joanne Domina as this month's Community Impact Award recipient. [Applause] Thank you. So many thanks to Grandma Joe. It's awesome. Next, we have our student community impact award and our recipient is Khloe [Applause] Anderson. So, Khloe Anderson is an outstanding eighth grade student at St. Helen's middle school who is a true leader. She is reliable, humble, and always willing to step up. She's been actively involved in web SOS and volunteers as a teacher's assistant, supporting both staff and students with kindness and

011maturity. Khloe excels academically as a straight A student. All the while competing in football, basketball, wrestling, track and field, where she leads with sportsmanship and team spirit. Staff describe her as someone who's always ready to help. Whether it's organizing events, mentoring younger students, or stepping in to support peers who just need a break. Khloe's impact is felt throughout the school and she truly embodies what it means to lead with heart, purpose, and service. Please join us in congratulating Khloe Anderson as this month's student community impact award recipient. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Chloe, do you have any folks with you here tonight or someone you'd like to introduce? Wonderful. Let's give them a hand, too. You can see why this is my favorite time of the board meeting. This is the fun part. And last but not

012least, we have our staff community impact award recipient. And tonight we have an unusual, wonderful uh one-of-a-kind person to celebrate this evening. And this is Dr. Charlotte [Applause] Ellis. I'm going to try to make it through this one without crying. In a time of transition, Dr. Charlotte Ellis stepped in as interim principal at St. Helens High School and quickly began rebuilding trust and community. With clarity, compassion, and a student centered approach, she brought stability and renewed pride to St. Helens High School. Dr. Ellis formed meaningful relationships with students and families, led with honesty and heart, and inspired both staff and students through her energetic servant leadership. And if anything underlines Charlotte, it is an energetic servant leadership. She strengthened instructional practices, supported educators, and created systems that improve school climate and staff morale. As one

013put student put it, she brought enthusiasm, pride, and joy back to our high school. A staff member added, "Her leadership made students and staff feel welcomed and valued." We are deeply grateful for her impact and proud to honor her extraordinary service to our students, staff, and families. And I'm going to share a tiny story. um I get to be on the uh principal's action committee. Um it's it's part of our corrective action plan. And so the other day when we were talking about having some input from the students as to who they would like or or qualities they would like their new principal to have. Every single one of them pointed to Charlotte and they said, "We want Mrs. Ellis. That's what we want. We want somebody who shows up, who's visible, who's at all

014of our games, all of the things that we do and really, really puts us first and listens to us. And that's what the kids wanted. So, I don't know what better testimony you could ask for than to have the kids themselves tell you that Dr. Ellis is what they'd like for their new principal. It's It's amazing. It's It's amazing. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Charlotte Ellis as this month's staff community impact award recipient. [Applause] [Music] Okay, we have another [Laughter] award. I know. I turned to my husband. I said, I don't think I'm gonna make it. Okay, Dr. Gray. Dr. Karen Gray. Woo. Since Okay, I can do this. Since stepping in on February 1st, Dr. Gray got this. Okay. Dr. Gray has led St. Helens with remarkable strength, compassion, and unwavering focus. In

015a time of uncertainty and transition, she brought the calm, steady leadership we needed. And she did it with grace, honesty, and heart. Dr. Gray jumped in immediately, fully present, fully committed. From the very start, she spoke of our students, our families, our staff, modeling a sense of shared ownership and purpose that reminded all of us what leadership rooted in service truly looks like. In her short time with us, Dr. Gray has accomplished so much. She wrote the district's blueprint for success, refined and distributed responsibilities to complete the corrective action plan, and ensured th these both aligned with our strategic plan. Through this, she emphasized important actions and systems pushing the district forward with clarity and purpose. She also helped us manage budget challenges, launched a new district attendance committee, created a superintendent advisory committee, and

016a unified district leaders with a spirit of true collaboration. Whether working with associations, families, or staff, Dr. Gray consistently modeled that we do this work together. Her calm presence under pressure, her willingness to process thoughtfully before responding, and her tell it like it is honesty have earned deep respect across our district. And at every decision point, she asked one powerful question, what's best for our students? That focus has anchored us, inspired us, and reminded us of our shared mission. Today we honor you, Dr. Gray, for your exceptional interim leadership that has made a lasting impact on St. Allen's and me. Thank you, Dr. Gray, for being allin for your heart, your honesty, and your unwavering dedication to our district. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Great. Good. surprise. Thank you. All right. Next, we have board reports. Well,

017I can go ahead and start this. I've been spending a lot of time studying up on the policies that we're going to be um going forward with, especially with the AI um because at this point it seems very clear that AI is going to be a part of our lives one way or the other. And we either teach students how to be able to handle it with ethical considerations, with the ability to be able to use it to its full potential, and to be able to avoid the pitfalls that end up coming with almost every sort of learning machine that ends up coming with it. Um, and as such, I have been uh talking with Ed in order to be able to try to end up seeing if we can come up with a robust

018policy in order to be able to end up making sure that we have a proper path forward so that teachers have guidance so that students end up understanding uh what their expectations are when they're going to be using it and other further things like that. Uh, that's been my project. I wish I could have spent more time with it, but other um requirements of being a board member ends end up taking precedence unfortunately. Um but I'm excited to be able to end up seeing what we end up coming up with together and what we can end up presenting to the board. I'm on the agenda later, so I'll talk about what I did then. Okay. Um, typically we didn't do this in the past, so it's hard for many of us to just like throw

019something off the cusp. Um, I did participate with uh the RNR program or the construction uh group. I got to go on one of their field trips and we went to Love It Construction or deconstruction. Um there was half the population were females and they needed a female volunteer to accompany them and in watching some of not that only female me not that I'm only rooting for the females but it's just really exciting to see the females uh get themselves into CTA CTE programs and to be offered jobs in those spaces and they were doing just that. They were really putting themselves out there and excited to do that and that was fun. Well, I have been going through it's a whole different part, but um going through my father-in-law and my mother's woodworking um

020stuff for the third time and we'll be making a third donation to the um wood chop class tomorrow morning. So, um and I hope that I'm done now, okay? because there was a lot of stuff. So, and you said that you wanted to end up handling things later and that's perfectly fine. All right. Um, so the consent agenda, the board on an individual basis prior to this meeting has reviewed all material. All financial reports are available for review by the public in the business office. The board considers consent agenda items routine business and will be enacted by the board in one motion. There will be no discussion of these items at the time the board votes on the motion unless members of the board, staff or public request specific items to be discussed and or

021removed from the consent agenda. Uh this would be the meeting minutes approval for April 23rd, 28th and 30th and for May 2nd, 8th and 14th uh the HR report that ends up coming. Um and that's it. Uh do we have a motion for this particular consent agenda? Ah is that part of the is sure enough. Yeah I guess. All right. So the consent agenda for the policy updates for the second read also include um the artificial intelligence graduation requirements evaluation of the superintendent evaluation of the administrators the bidding requirements version one that we're um posting to delete the bidding requirements to replace them the AR for the special procurements and exemptions from competitive bidding that we're deleting in order to put in a new exception from competitive bidding special procurements. I apologize. This is going

022to be a long time. Um the personal services contract to delete it and the personal services contract for the AR to delete because we're loading them in other systems. Likewise, the EBBA, the first aid, we're going to delete um and add it to the student health services that we're going to be adding instead. Uh the AR for first aid infection control is going to be deleted because it's going to be inc incorporated into the injury illnesses report. Uh the communicable diseases in schools the AR for that. Uh the original staff HIV AIDS and HPV we're deleting as that is incorporated as part of that into previous ones that we had. uh the sexual harassment one, uh the criminal records and checking and fingerprint we're deleting and in and the AR that goes along with it

023to be able to update it for the new one for criminal records checks and fingerprinting the special education procedural safeguards and then the special education individual education program IEP and the AR that goes along with it. So I move that we accept the consent agenda as modified in which we have removed 9.3.1 artificial intelligence 9.3.4 evaluation of administrators 9.3.12 student health services and 9.3.18 sexual harassment and 9.3.21 GCDA GDDA criminal records check and fingerprinting. Are you adding that as a It was on there already. I'm just Okay. finishing his modification. Yeah. Because we're still doing uh evaluations for those. Correct. Yeah. So, I can second his motion. Okay. All right. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I. I. All right. Motion passes. We will put those off in order to be able to reconsider.

024Um and then finally, uh well, not finally. Um still going on. New business. All right. Um, so we have the SAS SAS asb report from Braden Houston. [Applause] Hello. It breaks the very top. Do we have the clicker? Okay. Hello everyone. My name is Braden Houston and I am your current ASB public relations officer at St. Helens High School and I will be giving you a monthly report about things that happened in April and May at St. Helens High School. So on tonight's agenda, we'll be talking about Elksteen Rotary Teen and specific events that happened at St. Helens High School. First up, Elkstein. So our April Elks teen of the month is Alicia Miguel Clowner. One of her teachers says, "Alysia is a true example of hard work, kindness, and self-challenge. Her dedication to her

025goals and her ability to push herself beyond limits inspire those around her." Next, we have our May Elken of the Month, which is Jackson Burgard. One of his teachers said he works diligently on all of his assignments, and even when he doesn't enjoy something, he handles the task with poise in ablom. Now we're on to Rotary. For April for Rotary is Nicholas McCollum. Throughout high school Nick career, his high school career, Nick has demonstrated a remarkable commitment to excellence through a wide range of activities that showcase his talents, worth ethic, and character. On to May is Zachary Edwards. Zach's coach, Coach Lockkins, says Dax Zach's discipline off the field has led to discipline on the field and he has a lot of success. Zach is a great example of what it means to be a

026Lion at St. Helens High School. Now, on to certain events. First up, prom recently just concluded at St. Helens High School, and our prom royalty is including me, Braden Houston, and Key Scoville. Next, we recently had National Honor Society inductions recently. To the side is our lovely new students involved in National Honor Society for next year. And to the other side is their president, Clara Waritz, inducting them in. Next, recently St. Helens High School's leadership team went to OASC. It is a leadership event where schools around Oregon can come together to learn off of each other of certain events, fundraisers, or things that they help their student body with. And recently, our St. Helens High School Asia team got gold counsel once again. Next, we're on to state competition results for certain things in the

027high school. Next is our Sealance High School Wind Ensemble placed second at OSAA for a band championships and we have received the highest site reading score of the day. Next, our OSAA 4A jazz band has became state champs for the third time in a row. Next, our choir, Corleonus, placed fifth at the choir championships. Our oet team went to regionals and Taylor Blackburn took fourth in polls and Danielle Smith took fourth in Western Horsemanship. Next, our um St. S Helen High School softball and baseball team are off to the playoff rounds. And I've heard that our Selen High School girls softball have won their first playoff round. Next to talk about what happened earlier is our RNR program. They recently went to that show where they had to show their skills and they were able

028to receive award of best in show shed. And in the corner, their safe instructor, Georgia Han. [Applause] Recently at St. Helens High School, we had staff appreciation where the leadership uh team puts together certain events and certain activities to make sure to give back to our teachers. On Monday, we hosted a coffee cart where it was a free drink for any teacher that they requested. And then on Wednesday was a morning breakfast that was provided for all staff members at high school at the high school. And then in the top corner where it says thank you where is an opportunity where students were able to write a message to a teacher that were just broadcasted on the hall. Next we had our recent decision day for the class of 2025 and the career and college

029center has declared it was an inspiring to hear about our seniors speak confidently about their futures and the paths they've chosen. The class of 2025 has shown hard work, dreams, and determination. Now to talk about something that our principal action committee has done at St. Helens High School. We they have recently brought together spirit tokens where they will be able to um help encourage more student involvement and activities and some some ways that they can you know get those tokens is part participating in a Friday where we have deemed a school color day where if you wear black and lemon you will receive a token. If you attend any senior night, if you attend any event supporting your Lions, you will receive a spirit token. Next, I would like to introduce your next year's ASB

030public relations, Casey Warner. She would like to say, "Hey, I'm Casey and I'm the the 2025 to 2026 ASB public relations. I am so excited to be the next on the team next year and to be giving these reports. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Next, the countdown to graduation is 9 to 8 days. So, make sure to show up and support your seniors. And some little extra info, if you have a senior or have any type of information, there is a senior timeline located on the SHHS Weebly page. So, make sure you follow those emails that are being sent out by Parents Square. Oh, Parent Square. and to make sure that you're staying informed. Thank you for listening and this is our current ASB team and make sure to stay informed from our leadership team to follow

031official SHHS and our Facebook page at Sance High School and thank you for listening and if you go to the next slide it will be our next year's ASB team. Thank you very much, Braden. All right. Uh, moving on. Recognition of senior NHS members. Uh, Brian Dickerson. Yeah. They said, "Make sure you're in view of the camera here so we can be on YouTube tonight." Um, so good evening. It's uh my pleasure here to um introduce our National Honor Society seniors to the board and superintendent and uh they represent um the highest areas of achievement in scholarship, character, service, and leadership. And as you know, uh, they're a busy group this time of year, but we do have a few of them here tonight, but I'll read off all of them. Uh, Natalie Felibomb, John

032Rener, Hayden Moore. Yeah. master. Uh, Maddie Clark, Michaela Hines, Nolani Soul, Alicia Miguel Clowner, Caitlyn McKini, Max Hollik, Haley Lenderman, Rebecca Fry, Tag, Key Scoville, Corbin Lumpo, McKenna Harden, Hannah Young, Braden Houston, Clara Warlocks, Christina Dina Kelly, Haley Walton, Justice Stanton, Nick McCllum, Caleb [Applause] Cup, Caleb Griffin, Cameron Odell, and Jackson Burgard. All right, let's give it up for this group one more time. Thank you. Fantastic. All right. Next, we have 10.3, the NWD presentation by Jesse Padilla. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Um, Jesse, is Jesse here? So, I would think she might be online. Yeah. Michelle, what are we doing with Jesse? Is uh Jesse Patilla here online or in person? Okay. Wow. Um maybe. So, Jesse Padilla is uh from Northwest Regional ESD and she had a program that she was wanting

033to share with the community. um she had asked to present tonight and we have um received her and would love to hear from her. Um I am not sure what happened. Um but she was going to be here this evening and so um she's not here. So um we'll just have to move on and maybe try for the June 25th meeting because we have another board meeting on June 25th. Yeah. All right. Um moving on for now. 10.4 4 business office report with Christy Woodard. Thank you. Um first off, um I want to introduce Tara Camp from Clear Trail CPAs who is going to give a presentation about our 2324 audited financials and she's joining us online. Thank you, Tara. Good evening, Mr. Chair and fellow directors. Can everyone hear me? Okay, little louder. Okay,

034I'll try to speak up a little. Thank you for having me here this evening. My name is Tara Camp. I'm a partner with Clear Trail CPAs and we are the financial statement auditors for the district. I'm here this evening to present the results of the June 30, 2024 financial statement audit. So, in your packet, you received the audit along with the governing body letter. The governing body letter was the last item in the um online packet I saw. And that is primarily what I'll go over this evening. It's a nice little letter that summarizes everything we're required to communicate with you. So on page one of that letter, we go over generally the purpose of our audit. Primarily, we perform the financial statement audit, which is where we're testing and assessing the financial numbers presented

035by management in order to express an opinion. Secondly, we perform the Oregon municipal audit law compliance audit and that is where we're looking at many different laws and regulations to ensure the district is comp in compliance. And lastly, we perform the federal single audit and that is where we do a deep dive on federal grants that rotate on a annual basis to ensure compliance in those grants. On page two, we cover the results of the audit. For the financial statement audit, the first item I talked about, we issued an unmodified opinion on the basic financial statements. That means we have given a clean opinion with no reservations and that is excellent and exactly what the district is going for. For state minimum standards compliance, we found one exception noted on page 73 of the audit

036report and that is a minor item regarding a budget over expenditure. For federal awards, we found no issues of non-compliance and no question costs. That is excellent. That federal um part of the audit is very difficult. And lastly, for a management letter, we noted two material weaknesses and one significant deficiency as noted in the schedule of finding and question costs, which you can also see in the audit report in the back. Moving on to page three of the letter, we noted that we did encounter difficulties in performing and completing our audit due to management not being properly prepared for the audit. As noted in the uh management's responses to the audit findings, much of that was due to just turnover um in the office and newer newer people involved. Overall, Christie was a pleasure to

037work with. So, I want to really thank you for all of your hard work. It's extremely difficult um preparing everything that's needed for an audit and you did an excellent job and I was really pleased to work with Dr. Gray again. um we'd worked together in the past elsewhere, so I was glad to see her there. I think both of their leadership has been really good for the audit. We had no disagreements with management about accounting or auditing items. And then lastly, on the last couple pages of the audit, we talk about new standards coming out. It's really important to be aware that there's new accounting standards pretty much every year that may affect the district. and we'll be sure to be in touch with the district to make sure they can be in compliance

038for the upcoming audit. So, overall, that is everything I wanted to communicate and I'd be happy to take questions if you had them. Anyone have any questions for Tara or myself? Yeah, I'm not at this point. No. Okay. If you think of them later as you review the audit and the plan of action that we're going to be reviewing in just a moment, that's make sure that you send that to Christie with a copy to me, please. And we'll make sure to get your questions answered. Okay. Thank you, Tara. I appreciate your time. All right. Thank you, everyone. Have a good rest of your evening. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So at this point moving on to the um since that presentation 10.4.2 still with Christie. Okay. Yeah. Y. So um the next thing on

039the um agenda is reviewing the plan of action which was the findings that um the auditors did find and and note and we worked with through the auditors um about those those findings. And so in after the findings are established then we develop um a plan of action for the district to ensure that that doesn't happen again. So um in the packet is a plan of action. Um happy to take questions if anyone has questions about that. Do you want me to review each one please? Okay. Yes absolutely. Um so the deficiencies uh listed below including the adopted plan of action and time frame. So material weakness um was during the testing of long-term debt, we noted that the debt summary information provided by the district was material materially misstated. So the district continues to

040improve financial reporting controls and has continued to implement additional control practices to ensure that the debt schedule summary is adequately maintained and reconciled. Currently, the debt schedule summary reflects the necessary corrections from the June 30, 2024 audit and it is reconciled. The next one, during testing of grants, we noted material errors in the account for the student investment account fund. Payments passed through the charter schools were not be account being accounted for correctly and the amounts unspent at 6:30 2024 were not recorded as deferred revenue. The district continues to improve financial reporting controls and continues to implement additional control practices to ensure that expenditures, revenue, and deferred revenue are recorded correctly. Semianually, the pass through revenue and deferred revenue will be reconciled in the general ledger. Uh during uh deficiency number three dur during the

041final audit, multiple adjusting journal entries were performed by the district after the audit had commenced due to the books not being closed and finalized as is required. Again, the district continues to improve financial reporting and controls and has continued to implement additional control practices to ensure all necessary journal entries are recorded in a timely manner. Uh the district will allow sufficient time for audit prep to be completed prior to the scheduled audit and we've already started prepping for the 2425 audit. So happy to take questions. Can you answer why my name's on it as the chair? Um that's a great question. So that was an error on our part. We will get that corrected before we have it signed. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other questions? No. Not at this point. No. No. Okay. Happy

042to answer questions as you go through them. Um, also like everyone to know that now that the audit has been presented to the board, it will be posted on the website. So, visible for anyone publicly to take a look at the entire document. Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome. So uh also in your packet you'll find a resolution for approval of the plan of action. Uh so uh whereas the St. Helen School District 502 is committed to maintaining the highest standards of financial accountability and operational integrity. Whereas a recent audit of St. Helen School District 502 conducted by Clear Trail CPS CPAs has identified certain findings. Whereas St. Helen School District 502 has developed a comprehensive plan of action to address the a identified audit findings. Now therefore be it resolved that the

043St. Helen School District 502 hereby approves the plan of action as presented by Christy Woodard, chief financial officer on May 28th, 2025. So we'll ask that you um vote and have an action item to approve that later on. It's on the agenda. Yes. All right. Thank you very much. All right. Um, moving on to 10.4.3, uh, resolution 2025, um,-6 for revising authorized signers for St. Helen School District. Yeah. Christine. Um, so, uh, the district school board by authority uh, has the authority to appoint authorized signers for contracts, intergovernmental agreements, and banking transactions. And uh we in accordance with um those the or is noted Christine Woodard remains chief financial officer, deputy clerk and custodian of funds and who shall act until her successor is duly appointed, qualified and acting. Additionally, Christine Woodard will remain the

044controlling signer and Jeff Burns, clerk and assistant superintendent, is appointed as an authorized signer effective June 23rd, 2025 for contracts, intergovern intergovernmental agreements, and the following accounts for Columbia County School District 502. There's checking accounts and a money market account listed there. So again, we'll um ask that that be an action item later on to approve that resolution to um appoint Jeff um as authorized signer effective June 23rd. So let me add a little bit of detail. Um the reason for this um revision of authorized signers is because Christy is very um astute and knows that she's going to need things signed. Um my last day is June 20th. Um Jeff's first day is June 23rd and Superintendent Brown's first day is July 1st. So you need somebody here in authority who can sign things

045for Christiey's office because she can't sign things for her own office. So that's why you have to have an authorized signer in my absence and in between superintendent. That's why. Thank you for that explanation, Dr. Okay. Uh, moving on to 10.4.4. The resolution 2025- Z005 does designate Jeff Burns, chief administrative officer, school district clerk, and budget officer effective June 23rd, 2025. So, similarly to what Dr. Gray just said, similar reason, um, we need to we'll have a budget hearing at the end of June uh, to adopt the budget and so we need to appoint a budget officer to be able to do that. So whereas the district school board by authority has the authority to appoint a chief administrative administrative officer, school district clerk, and budget officer. Therefore, be it resolved that in accordance with

046the OS, Jeff Burns, assistant superintendent, is hereby appointed chief administrative officer, school district clerk, and budget officer effective June 23rd, 2025 of school district number 502, Columbia County, Oregon, who shall act until their successor is duly appointed, qualified, and acting. So again, we'll ask for an action item on that to appoint Jeff. Can I ask for a little bit more clarification over about the two? Uh, can you just clarify whether or not schoolboard members sign checks or have access to the bank accounts? They do not. Absolutely not. Thank you. You're welcome. Never have. Never will. Um, so moving on to 10.4.5 budget committee progress. Christie, if you could So, um, we opened up our official budget season on May 7th with the, um, presentation of the budget. Dr. Gray shared the bud budget message and

047we shared the budget with the budget committee and board and uh that was wellreceived. A lot of information um was presented. A lot of detail was given as to how we came to the budget that we did with um the unfortunate reality of many cuts. So um there that we provided as much information as we thought was necessary to inform the board and the budget committee to be able to make an informed decision. So that was presented um on May 7th. Uh we asked for questions from the budget committee and the board. We received a couple of minor questions. Uh and then we al had the next budget committee meeting was on May 21st that was open to public comment. Um and we uh had a couple of questions um following that a little bit

048of discussion and we have received um at least one additional question since that time. So we will um we've answered the questions that were asked after the first meeting. Those were presented at the second meeting on May 21st. We will have additional answers to the additional questions that we've received and the next meeting will be on June 3rd. It is a public meeting. There is public comment and uh we encourage you to look on the website, check out the public uh the documents, the the budget is available on the website is also available in district at the district office if you choose to come and view it um and uh encourage you to um look at it and make comment at the June 3rd meeting. Yes, please. Um, I think that is everything on that.

049Any questions about the budget committee process and where we're at? And just final date for any extra questions would be um those were due to tomorrow by 5:00 p.m. Thank you. Thank you, Kelly. Um, when does the budget have to be signed eventually? When does it have to be adopted? So, great question. Um, the budget has to be adopted by June 30th, 2025. And in order for us to adopt it on June 25th, 2025, we have to provide appropriate public notice of that budget hearing in the newspaper. Okay. So, in order to backtrack and do that appropriately, we need an approval by the budget committee um by June 4th. Okay. That's coming up. Yes. All right. Um Okay. Any other questions? All right. Um moving on to dispersement summary. Yep. So, um in your packet,

050you um have a dispersement summary. Any dispersements over $5,000 out of the general fund are listed on that dispersement summary. And then you also have um a copy of the expenditures and revenue um yearto date for the 2425 school year. happy to answer any questions as you've reviewed those. And now I remember looking at these before. Hopefully you reviewed it before the meeting. Check. [Music] Chair Douglas. Um Douglas got someone speaking from the Yeah, if you want to ask her to get a comment card. Hi. Um, we will have a section just after all of this to be able to end up taking public comment after the action items. Uh, would you be willing to wait until then to end up coming forward? if if you could wait until like all this. Yes, please show

051and she will be able to help, please. Yes. Absolutely. I I apologize if it seems rude. We just need to keep moving on because there have been a lot of people that have been waiting for a long time to be able to end up getting anywhere here. Um, okay. So, next up we have uh so dispersement summary I believe we were at. Yeah. So, um, final financial report. Again, you have the dispersement summary in your packet, over $5,000 dispersements, um, during the month of April, uh, out of the general fund, and then the general fund expenditures and general fund revenue year-to- date for 2425. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um, thank you for your financial report. You're welcome. Thank you. Uh, financial reports for 10.4.7. Yeah, I just talked about that as well. All right.

052Yep. Back to you. All right. So, back to me. 10.5 applications for student representatives to the school board. So, I got a chance to be able to end up reviewing this uh with Karen. Uh and we have three applicants uh two from the high school and well from the St. Helens High School and one from Plymouth High School. And I kind of like all three of them. like there's it it's a little bit odd, but I would actually end up recommending um well, the Plymouth um the Plymouth applicant does have to end up making um one thing uh that she needs to end up uh to fulfill one requirement. Um, so my my advice is contingent on her fulfilling those obligations, but should she end up fulfilling those obligations, I'd actually like to present all

053three because I think that they would be a very useful voice to be able to end up having um as a group to be able to end up letting us know what the students think and where they're coming from. So this isn't an action item that I can see. So um when we imagined the policy and envisioned how we would create this and structure it um the the goal was to essentially create a selection of one and and now that we have Plymouth which I really appreciate um one and one. So, um, putting too many people up in this space, I think, might get to be crowded and might set some expectations that will be difficult to fulfill down the road. And, um, I would not advise to have more than one representative from each

054of the schools. Okay. Um, Melody, your thoughts? I'm good both ways. I'm used to that. We um actually get to interview a little bit and make that decision. So, it's hard for me to make that decision with that. Well, this is just a recommendation at this point. Uh, Kelly, I could go either way as well, but I know uh Bill and Tren sat in that session and specialized in this when they brought it to the board four years ago. Um, and and we started this process. Typically, it's only been one, but um my only fear would be that we'd run into like boredom areas. um just in allowing everybody to actually speak. Maybe Key would want to weigh in on whether or not you felt like um more individuals on the board would maybe cause

055us to spend too much time in that area and one person wouldn't get a voice or if you think that there's enough time to all lot to everyone in that way. Not that you're excluding but maybe just your thoughts and opinions on it. Okay. I feel like it would be easier with just one person, especially cuz I feel like you'd want to choose like your best applicant and like who you think would best like represent St. Helens. And I feel like that would be the best way to go cuz then you have one person that you're like this is the student's perspective and they're going to accurately get like the population's vote rather than like I don't know. I feel like it would be kind of conflicting. Yeah. But it could be better to have

056multiple perspectives. I don't really know like Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate that. Thank you. So, one thing that we did want to honor was that we have two high schools and so we have Plymouth High School as well. Um I think it's fair to have a representative from both high schools because Plymouth is a high school and so is St. Allen's. So to me, if you're looking that way, it was very difficult going over the applications because everybody was so good and their applications were complete and they did everything they were supposed to do. So I could see that the board might select one of the two of the St. Helen's high school recommendations, but I would recommend to the board that you allow someone from Plymouth also to have this opportunity. And to be clear,

057Plymouth was always intended to be a part of this. I don't think the application didn't show Plymouth at all. I don't think we had any luck in getting interest in that previously. So, I do know that that was part of the conversation and a point of emphasis, not on the original application. I'm very happy to hear that we have interest there and I think that the perspective needs to be brought forward. Yeah. And we did have a Plymouth representative to the board. They sat with us as well. Yeah. For several years. The original application required that you are um on a certain uh student thing at St. Helens High School, which a Plymouth student couldn't be. Yeah. So, that wouldn't have worked for them. But now we fix that. We have that in the application.

058All I'm saying is I'd love to see both of them. And if we need to choose between the two St. kids. I think you're going to have to flip a coin cuz like they are impossible to choose. Okay. But y'all can do it. Yeah. We eventually have to make that decision. Are we going to make the decision? Next month or when they're going to be seated? July. When when would we make the decision as part of that? Well, I I would think again we have a a work session on July 11th. We have our final board meeting June 25th. It would be very logical to put on a a vote for June 25th and maybe we'll think of some way to um make a choice between the two wonderful students from the high school by

059that time. So, I'd say Michelle probably on your list of things we'll have a vote on the June 25th uh board meeting and um that's perfect time to do it. They're going to have policies to vote on it also. And you're going to have a budget hearing to vote on. So, you might as well add this to it. Okay. Get it done before July, though, so that we can get it ready for the fall. All right. So, now now to move on so that we can get this going. Uh, superintendent report, you're up, Karen. Yeah. Um so the superintendent report uh is a brief except for the policies. Um I just wanted to report on the fact that I am so proud of the work that our high school students are doing out in the

060community. Uh particularly in the area of volunteering. I get to go to the Rotary lunches with Charlotte and Stacy and we get to celebrate with Rineer and Scapus and be able to just cheer on our students and the things that they do. In particular, because I'm a musician myself, I really uh love the music programs in the schools and have really fostered them in my career. So when I heard that our jazz kids won again state champion and I believe it's for the fourth time in a row but maybe the third either way it's something that is unattainable and just hearing that the there was a wind ensemble which I tried to get in Lincoln County schools and just was not successful. Um, I was just delighted to see what they were able to do.

061And so, I just wanted to point that out. It's not every day that you have a state championship. It is really something to celebrate. And we have lots to celebrate in St. Helens School District. Um, we have the new superintendence contract will be voted on this evening by the board. Um, I just wanted to turn this over to uh, board member Monahan. Uh, since you were the one who was designated by vote by the board to negotiate that contract with Dr. Brown, I thought if there's anything that you wanted to uh, share with the community. Uh, it's up to you what you would like to share. Yeah. So, instead of doing the board report, I thought I would just kind of talk about it here. So um ultimately doing any type of negotiation is a

062difficult uh component for this particular region. Uh when I worked here previously um retaining personnel or hiring people into this area makes it very difficult because of the proximity to the metro area. So, I took um a um wage comparison across eight similarly sized districts throughout the state uh with a um similarly constructed uh ADM and uh weighted the contract dollars, the salary, the fringe, all of the components that go into that. And then uh once I had those numbers um I began negotiating to come up with the final result that we have here. Um it is very difficult in today's market in today's world to try and push numbers down. Um I don't know that it's fully sustainable long term but the market and the reality is what it is and um I think

063that ultimately the contract that we came to a term with was uh commensurate to uh what Miss Ber or Dr. Baris Brown brings and that ultimately uh it is as low as I could get it. Um, and that was my goal. Uh, but also to be fair and equitable to all of the other things. I also took um a comparison of the prior superintendent's contract, a comparison of the administrators uh that we currently have and tried to ensure that there was consistency in as much of that as possible. So that is the methodology I used. If anybody has any individual questions, um, you can come talk to me after the meeting. Um and just for uh public clarity sake because not everybody ends up pay paying attention to the budget meeting. Uh what is an

064ADM? The ADM is how uh school uh funding is essentially uh counted based on um average daily membership. Membership. Yes. So average daily membership which is the total number of students. There's an ADMW which increases that number uh based on specialized populations uh special ed um Mckin Vento those types of populations. So that may escalate the number a little bit higher than what the ADM shows. Okay. Thank you. All right. And in addition, it should be noted that the board stayed within their voted upon range. Okay. Good. You did not go outside your range. Good. Um moving on. So, uh superintendent's report. Moving on. Um this evening there will be a vote by the board for the Northwest. See if I can talk. Northwest Regional ESD board vacancy zone 4 election. You have exactly one

065candidate. The one candidate for zone 4 application that you will vote upon later on uh is Michelle Graham. She is employed by Providence Health Services for 44 years as an intensive care nurse. her education is that she has a bachelor's degree in science and nursing from the University of Portland. She has been a director on the board of education for Scaploo School District. Uh retiring after 16 years, having served four years each as chair and vice chair. uh retired from the Scapus school board two years ago and since then has been looking for an opportunity to serve not only her community but a broader one as well. The role will be built on the partnerships developed in previous roles while continuing to be passionately involved in public education. And that is zone 4 Northwest Regional

066Education Service District candidate Michelle Graham. Uh school board and superintendent goal setting retreat. Um, we are asking and the new superintendent is asking for the board to set a retreat date to set your 2025 2026 board superintendent goals. So, I'll open that up for discussion. It should be noted that uh per the contract that I negotiated, those goals need to be set by September 1st contractually. Correct. Which means you need to have goal setting in August. Mhm. Yep. Um, now there's going to be a majority of the board that is going to end up switching hands. Have they been contacted all right already in order to be able to figure out the No. What we wanted was retreat suggestion dates so that upon their coming onto the board and swearing in on the 16th of

067July that you've got some dates set aside and you're not waiting until then to have set aside suggested dates. Of course, these would have to be agreed to by the whole board. Okay. The worry is you won't set any dates and then it'll be too late to set dates and we have the September 1st requirement for the superintendent to have our goals ready. Okay. But they should actually be able to end up making changes should it be necessary. Of course. We're just looking for some suggested dates. All right. Okay. That should be fine then. Um uh so let's see. Next up is the Okay. So, you did the organizational meetings and then we've got um well well I guess we we were actually looking for some dates. Oh, okay. So, I I know that it's

068a difficult thing to do, but um I don't know any session um while the board is still sitting here. So, maybe it could be three Fridays in August. you would be looking at a date like that. Yeah. Because I know for me as a superintendent, I always looked forward to my retreat with my board because our goals were the same goals. Um on a Friday, we had a more relaxed time of it because we were bucking up against a weekend. So, I'm just looking for something broad from you that I can communicate to uh Corina to Corine. I I couldn't hear everything you said. But are you talking about um like just an evening like we have regular work or a whole day? This is an all day event. So 8 to 4. Okay. And

069I'm open to being any of the days. So of your Fridays through the July. Okay. So whatever works for the rest of us. And do we know if they if the oncoming board members have like regular jobs like I do? I think a couple of them do. Um, yeah, I agree. Historically, it's it's like a 9 to3 or something. And I would just put the Fridays of August on the calendar. And then you could also maybe do two of your Wednesdays and start them at 3:00. If they need to do an evening shift, they could do that as well. It's like a 3 to 7 or something like that for two of the different Wednesdays. This would be very good to have on the agenda for the July 16th organizational meeting when the new board

070is sworn in and then you can really set your date. But in the meantime, you'll have some suggested Fridays and I think that's what the superintendent is looking. Are you going to go ahead and work with OSBA to schedule like their new board member training during that time as well? Oh, absolutely. Okay. Yeah, that's great. Absolutely. Uh Michelle has already started. So yes. Okay. All right. Um great. So moving on my uh second to last portion is the organizational meeting. That is an annually required by statute meeting of the school board to set many many many things through resolution. And that meeting will be on the 16th of July. Just wanted to make sure everybody had that um on their calendar particularly Melody. and you can communicate that with Bill. Mhm. Um policy review. Uh

071I've been trying to catch up on all the board policies in the St. Helens School District and I've been pretty uh along with the board pretty successful in renewing and re-upping all of the required policy changes for the 2024 2025 school year. Um, we have five policies we've pulled off consent. Uh, those will need to be voted on at the June 25th board meeting, no matter what. So, if there's any conversation or questions about the five pulled policies, you'll need to have that conversation um in a proper way between now and then. Um, I'm going to suggest um some more policy review. I apologize upfront to the audience. This is a little bit prefuncter, but it's something that needs to happen anyway and so we have to do it in open session. So, first at

07210.6.6.1 JFG is actually a policy review and requires no voting. And the reason why I brought this up is because we don't like to do things that happen to our community quickly. We want to discuss things with plenty of time for conversation. Um, it's been brought to my attention through some administrative conversations that when we host uh dances or proms or things like that in this district, um, we don't use a breathalyzer. Uh, breathalyzers are allowed by Oregon statute. They're used in many districts. uh not only are they a way to um make sure that um people coming into our dances are uh well and healthy and doing okay, it's something about student safety, putting them back in the car. And so we have a policy on this in St. Helen School District that we've

073had on the book since 2009. And it's under the policy on student searches. And if you go to page three of five E, uh, I'll read it to you. The district may deploy breathalyzer devices at extracurricular events and activities. Students may be subject to testing procedures as a prerequis prerequisite to attending the event or activity. If a student refuses testing, he or she will be detained and their parents will be contacted to come and take them home. So, the reason why I'm bringing this up tonight in May, this is my last board meeting, um, is because I just want the board to be aware of the fact that you have a policy that allows students to be breathalyzed on the way into a dance or into a prom or into um, any other student extracurricular

074activity we deem appropriate. And um in fact we use them uh exclusively in Lincoln County School District and the Parkro school district and in Kuzbay school district in order to keep our students safe. So I just wanted to bring it up. I'm not looking for discussion. I'm not looking for a vote. There is no vote. It's already in policy. But I feel like I'm remiss if I don't bring this up. I did have notes for this one. Did you want me to just submit them to you later? Sure. Okay. Okay. Moving on. Uh we have this is a first reading of policy. Um these will go on June 25th to a second reading of policy. I would say to you that these need to go for a second reading and be done June 25th because

075frankly we have run out of board meetings. So you still have some policy updates you need to think about. I'd really like to get these decided in the next two months. So one is KBAR public records request. Um there are uh changes of name in the public records request policy. Now remember that this is the administrative rule. Administrative rules are written mostly by the superintendent and don't require a board agreement, but I feel like it's important for you to hear it anyway and in public. uh the changes that we have is that there uh is now a labor uh chart. So when a person makes a records request, if the records request costs a lot of money to do, we've had to make up the cost by trying to figure out how much it costs.

076So the law has come out to give you an actual chart of costs. So now it's statewide. It's the same costs uh to everyone. It's totally evenhanded. Uh the costs are as follows. Clerical time is $40 an hour. Administrative time is $90 an hour. Attorney is $300 per hour. And printing is a quarter a page. So what we try to do is do as much of it as we can for free and really work hard to do that. But for example, we just got a records request that was for every purchase order we've had for the last five years. It didn't come from St. Helens. It was from some outfit across the nation who's collecting this in research. And so for her to come up with every purchase order for the last five years, are

077you kidding? So we need this. And so that's what this one is about. Excuse me. Um, the next one is in policy GBA, GBN, sexual harassment. Um, this is the flip side of the one you pulled. Remember, there's the J policies and the G policies. J policies are student policies, G policies are staff policies. This is identical to the one you pulled. I would suggest you pull this along with the other one so that you have discussion about both of them at the same time. Yeah, that's fine with me. This one's also just a first reading. So, it's just we could talk about it right now as well. Yes. And so, what this does is it it changed a a line for both policies and and I'll read it out loud to you. without consent

078is defined as an act performed without the knowing voluntary clear agreement by all parties to participate in the specific act or B when a person who is party to the act is incapacitated by drugs or alcohol unconscious or pressured through physical force coercion explicit or implied threats to participate in the act. So what this did was it took out this vague description and gave a much more specific description of what this means and I think that the change is a good one. I think that that is uh the only change I think I found in the policy. Uh what we ended up doing was listing for you the names of specific people in the district that do this investigatory work. for example, Title N coordinator Pete Mashensky. Okay. Um, and the next one is called

079the use of restraint or seclusion. This is policy JGAB. The requirement for this policy comes from OAR 581 021055612. Um the change here in this this has everything to do with special education classrooms. They are largely trained and uh administered through uh Jen and Lori through their program for student services. Uh the district shall only utilize a training program for restraint or seclusion to train staff in the use of the district. And then it cuts out a lot of the language and ads. The district shall preserve and may not destroy any records relating to an incident of restraint or seclusion, including audio or video recording. The records must be preserved in the original format and without alteration in accordance with the law. It also states that a staff member who violates this policy or its

080administrative regulation may be subject to discipline up until including [Applause] dismissal. Um moving on to JGA R use of restraint and seclusion. It added that there is an immediate written notification of the existence of any records related to an incident of restraint or seclusion, including photos, audio, or video. And it goes on to really talk directly about how these records must be preserved. And I think that they've added some pretty uh descriptive and explicit language regarding that. Uh, the district upon request from DHS regarding an investigation of an incident of restraint or seclusion as suspected child abuse shall disclose any records preserved to DHS or its designate which are deemed relevant to the investigation in its original format and without alteration. And you can kind of see the flow of this policy and how it's

081um repeating itself. The next are a series of deletions. Uh, as pointed out before, these are deleted because they're now appearing in a different policy. So, JHC, student health services and requirements is being deleted. JHCCA, students with HIV, HBV, and AIDS has been deleted. Policy JHCC- AR communicable diseases student has been deleted. Communicable diseases students JHCC has been deleted. JHCCF pediculosis or headlice version two has been deleted. JHCCF AR pediculosis head lice version 1 has been deleted and in its place is JHCCF pediculosis head lice and it is a new policy. Suggested school measures for headlice are provided in communicable disease guidance for schools and that is underlined because it links to an entire book. So, all school districts have this book and it's from the Oregon Department of Ed and the Oregon Health Authority

082and it goes into great detail around communicable diseases um HIV, AIDS, HPV um and headlights. So rather than having a whole bunch of different policies, it leads you to a policy manual that all school districts have. Continuing on, um, I feel like I'm repeating myself, so I don't know if this is just a Well, I'm going to say them anyway because I have to do it in public. Uh, JHCCF again, pediculosis head lice, but this is version two. And then continuing JHCCF version one again is deleted. Must be the most boring presentation on the planet, but we have to do it anyway. It's our job. So moving on to the last two. Uh JBA A is section 504 students. Also, these are uh students in order to meet the requirements of section 504 of the

083rehabilitation act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Americans disability act amendments of 2008 or the ADA. The following procedures have been established and it goes on to discuss that. The new part that we have is all employees assigned to work with the student with special needs to assist the student with educational, behavioral, medical, health or disability related support needs of the student must be consulted when the 504 plan for the student is being developed, revised or reviewed. This includes being invited to compensated for attending meetings regarding a 504 plan and other meetings regarding the student. So it goes on to be very descriptive about what's required in the evaluation of a student with 504. And then finally another JBAA 504 students. This is the more generic version of the policy. Talks

084about what is section 504 of the 1973 rehabilitation act and what's required. Finally, we have a a trespass protocol and form. We recently had a situation where um we had a need to trespass someone off our property. Um they were engaged in a behavior that was um dangerous and we did not have a protocol for trespassing that person um in our policy. We had a policy but no protocol. So we created one. This policy protocol has gone through uh the Hungerford Law Firm and is um what I would call a a legally defensible and usable form. Uh may we never have to use it. I hope we never do, but it also gives rights to people that are trespassed to appeal to the superintendent uh if they need to do that. Um, and also the

085expressed reasons why people are according to law trespassed off our property. Um, I believe this might have been the first time we've done that this year, maybe first or second. And there is an Oregon revised statute that allows school districts with or without the help of police to trespass people off their property. And so glad I've hardly ever had to use it. And that's my report. All right. Thank you very much, Karen. I'm gonna be excused to use the restroom. Go ahead. You don't need to ask my permission. Well, all right. I apologize for how ungodly long that was. Um, it but part of it is just we have to be able to get this information to you so that you could end up being able to end up getting an informed opinion back to

086us. um because that's imperative in every si single scenario. And so to that end, uh visitors to address address the board. Uh this is a time for public comment on agenda and non-aggenda items. Uh the board will not take any immediate action, but we'll refer concerns to the superintendent and ask her to report the board. We appreciate you keeping comments to 3 minutes per individual or 5 minutes if you're representing a group of patrons because we've already been here quite a long time. So, I would appreciate it. Um, wait a moment until she's back. Yes. So, here's your list. Okay. All right. So, let's see. Okay. Uh, so the first one's going to be Sarah Young. Um, we're going to be waiting for Karen to end up coming back at this point, but just wanted

087to let you know that you're you're first on the on Thank you. I'm speaking on behalf of the group. Um, do you mind if I have a second? I'm waiting for That's fine. Okay. Um, uh, would Adventuring uh, be here at this point then? Am I pronouncing that correctly? Yes. Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Um, okay. And I'm going to drink up five minutes. I don't think I'll need it. I'm speaking on behalf of Okay. Um, but yeah, the recall committee. Yeah. Um, need to wait for Karen. Yeah, we're we're going to be waiting for Karen if that's all right. That's fine. Thank you. [Music] How are you doing to the sides? What? How are you doing? Besides doing really good. Excellent. Yeah. And the comment card ended up talking about the sped program.

088Is that your topic of the discussion? The special ed program. Okay. Thank you. [Applause] [Music] Go ahead. What's going on here? [Music] Come on. [Music] [Laughter] Hello. [Music] You kidding me? I'm not sure. Make it just can take a minute. Want to take a minute? Oh, maybe that's her. We can have [Music] I haven't drink that one. [Music] Some serious pressure. Never noticed that before that the fuel set um is brought separately rather than integrated into the bus [Applause] for the for the fuel for Lawren Company. So, some of it is, but some of it's for others that we purchase. Oh, okay. Some of it. Okay. Kayie, I want you to know that us grumpy moms up here that are fighting for our children and their safety, we're never ever addressing you personally. When we

089address the board, it's like mine is key. Tonight. [Music] Make sure she's okay. Chair, I move we uh take a fivem minute recess just to take a minute. Yeah, that's what I need. Any second? Second. Okay, moved and seconded. All those in favor. All right. Uh we're going to take a short recess so people can stretch their legs and get some water and get things [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Sorry. Yeah. All right. All right. Is everyone ready at this point? Yeah, it looks like we're going um [Music] Okay. All right. So, first up, Adventurine. Uh if you could please. Hello, I'm Adventurine. I have two children in the school district. One in the McBride Elementary and the other in the elementary school, and she's in the special needs program here. Um, first I want to

090congratulate all the new board members, uh, Christine, Rochelle, and Reed. I am super excited. And, uh, special thanks to Dr. Ellis for being so amazing. We are going to miss her. And a special thanks to everybody who ran for the school board. That was amazing. All right. There was an incident at McBride Elementary in the life skills special education classroom in November 2024 where a TA was discovered behind a closed bathroom door in the classroom restroom used only for potty training and changing diapers. There was a non-verbal child behind the closed door with the DA who was sitting on the toilet with her pants and undergarments. Chair Douglas, you're going to have to uh this is employee personnel, so she's going to have to stop this comment and you're going to have to ask her

091to leave. Miss Horrible did her own investigation, asking the TA question for details. I apologize for interrupting. This incident was then swept under the rug. Zero reports were made. Not okay. I found out about this incident while talking to past employees in the life skills classroom. Many TA staff and teachers have left due to Miss U. Well, I need to let you know that she needs to be put on administrative leave. You're going to have to continue to do that. Due to I didn't say her name. It doesn't matter. You're speaking about an employee of what is going on. Great. Let's go to the recall then, shall we, friends? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And I will put it on Facebook just so you know. Um, I have gotten the official approval to start gathering

092signatures to recall Amos and Kllins. Our goal is 2,000 signatures by light by July 16th. 4,000 voted this ele election, so we only get half of that. We feel incredibly confident to get you um out of here. A calendar of signing events and opportunities will be posted ASAP. If the current plans on replacing Kellis and Amos before the new board takes office, I will recall anyone you replace them with. I had become quite savvy to the process. Farewell to the current board. You will not be missed. You deserve to be stripped of all the work you have done in this community. You failed our children without apology. You protected pedophiles and others who were protecting pedophiles. You are all guilty and grossly negligent. Shame on every one of you. Dr. Gray, you have been a

093bully since you got here, pushing your weight around, putting us unruly parents and teachers in our place. You have supported Miss Speaking about an employee, covering Chair Douglas, you would interrupt at this time. You used Dr. Web as a scapegoat. Pathetic. Uh Dr. Alison Deuke is covering up the incident at McBride. Currently, she's telling the parents, you use your gavvel, which means that they will not inform you of any injury that happens to your children, especially your special education. So Allison Deuke is an absolute danger to our children. Chair Douglas, you need to use your gavvel. We need an officer to be a done. Bye, guys. So, not going to miss you. Especially you. Oh, especially you. Thank you. Call the next one. Oh, this is a stack of complaints I have against 20 stacks

094of complaints again. You need to I'm sorry, but you need to be done. Listen, there's a reason that personnel issues are not discussed in public in a board session like this for a lot of very good reasons. Um, most notably because there are contractual obligations because of the contracts that we have with the unions. covering up an incident with a child again. So what you are actually accusing board members of we don't even know of you. We do not hear staff complaints. Point of order, please. But that's again like All right. No, we're not. One moment. You need There's law enforcement in the room again. Please. Thank you. If you have things that regarding that nature of that type, we shouldn't be the ones referencing it. You should be going directly to DHS. I will

095go to the news center as well. Yes. They But these if it is that if it is that kind of incident, it should be going to the police or DHS, not us. Investigation immediately. Anyway, at this point, um, moving on to I'm not seeing a name under here, but it's under policy discussion for AI under 13. Oh, yeah. I'm so terrible at the name. You need to add a line name. Yeah. Let's meet them. Okay. Hello. Hello. I'm just going to read from this. My name is Logan Gilbert Rener. I'm a Title One reading assistant at McBride Elementary and the vice president of OCA Chapter 31. I wanted to share a quick concern about the AI policy draft. Specifically, the rule that says students can't use under 13 can't use AI generated material or tools

096at all. Nor can teachers use AI generated tools as teaching supplies. I get where it's coming from. Kappa uh COPA terms of service liability. I understand the district is trying to play it safe, but I don't think a blanket ban is the only option. And I worry it's cutting off tools that could really help our youngest learners. Instead of saying no one under 13 can use AI, why don't we treat it like any other online tool and just use permission slips? Kappa allows for under 13 use if the school gets parent consent. Many education focused AI tools already meet those standards. We just have to choose the right ones. plus staff generated AI content like simplified text, vocabulary practice, reading passages, um comprehension questions that none of that necessarily involves student data at all. But

097the policy language right now makes it sound like we can't use AI for younger grades, even indirectly. I'm asking that the board revise this policy before moving on with implementing it. I do think it's an important thing to implement. uh but uh how AI is actually used in the classrooms should reflect uh common pra like should reflect how we want to how the teachers want to use the tool not how the policy is instructing us to uh not use the tool essentially uh let the teachers and assistants continue to use AI to create materials for all students and let students under 13 use approved tools with parental opt-in and supervision just like we already do with other online learning platforms. This would protect privacy and support learning especially for students who need it the most.

098Thank you for considering that. Thank you. Thank you. Would you be willing to talk to me afterwards because there's actually some ideas that you had that I'd like to be able to end up exploring further in context. Thank you. All right. Uh next up we have Renie Dowling. Did I end up pronouncing that correct? Yes. Excellent. Thank you. Yes. Uh, I've listened to the concerns here of these parents and um just a side note, excuse me, I'm learning to walk again after some major surgery. Um, you might want to put the mic just a little bit closer so people can hear you. You can move the mic. Okay. I listened to the concerns of the people that showed up and had concerns about what's going on and I frankly too am finding concerns, but I

099want to address the budget in several questions I have on that. Why was an ordinary audit done instead of a forensic audit? In a ordinary ordinary audit, you get whatever comes in to the tax person goes out in a report. And no disrespect to the CPA that did that, but I feel with all the problems that we've had and always needing a levy, etc., and people are finding it hard to bend for these new increases to their taxes that we should have a forensic audit so that we know that where we stand. We've got a point where we can go from that point forward and say, "Okay, we got a clean slate." Because what we do not have is a clean slate. And I think that's what worries a lot of the people about our

100school system. And uh like I say, the regular audit, you can put garbage in, garbage will come out. And if you've done a forensic audit, they dig down deeper and they would have found those things that no doubt that you guys found on your own. And so I wouldn't consider the audit. No, again, no disrespect to the CPA. I wouldn't consider the audit valid to make a decision on whether or not I wanted to vote on the levy. I've been a citizen here for 12 years in this county and every time there's a school levy, it's for buildings and whatever. Yet off to the side there's always some other things. Well, gee, if I had the chance, I wouldn't have voted for that. So, I'm just curious as to why they didn't do a forensic

101audit and start from scratch. Um, we can't end up answering questions directly in this, but we can end up talking to you afterwards. Um, because Chrissy's right here so that we can end up hopefully answering your questions in those particular instances. Okay. Well, this was kind of a should have been easy to done and you guys on the board are saying we're transparent. I don't see it transparent. And that's disturbing. If the people in this room that have already talked don't see it as transparency, I don't see it as transparency. How are the taxpayers going to see it as transparency? So, Chair Douglas, if I may, I want to point out um clarification that the school district has not uh done a levy. they've done uh bonds and those are for capital expenses not for

102individuals or teachers within the district. So the bonds go to build or renovate schools. Um and then the other clarification is if you come to the budget meeting or submit your questions to the budget meeting, there is a back and forth there and uh the finance director will answer your question. Then this is just a regular board med meeting where usually the finance questions are not answered. Okay. Will that be on the website when that meeting? Next Wednesday. Yeah, next Wednesday. Tuesday. Um, next Tuesday the 3. That's right. But you could submit it in email to Miss Woodward and she would answer it at that time during that meeting. Yes, please do. And then the second question I think was wrapped up in the first question there. And the sideline one was where's the transparency?

103And so I don't see it. I'm sure there's people here that came today hoping to see some transparency. You know, a lot of things have happened. Our students are are I wouldn't say they're given up on But they should be they should be given the opportunity to have more say, see what's going on, see how things are moving in their concerns. And I think it's absolutely great that you have a student advisor. I mean, I found the one you had today was very nice, very um very thorough. And I'm really proud of our students. I'm proud of those that stood up, too. And so I'm here for them and I I hope all of you in the next board session start being there for them because they've been doing this on their own trying to

104muddle through what's all these things that have happened and they deserve better. Thank you. All [Applause] right, Sarah, you're up. Speaking on behalf of a group. Okay, thanks. If what group would that be, if I may ask? Myself and Ashley Chrysler. Okay. Um, first off, I want to say that before I've sat in this room and seen people talk down to Adventurine, and I just think that it's really, really cool that she was the one who's going to recall you when you guys treat her like she's a child. It's pretty awesome because that was a big deal. That's a lot of work. [Music] Um, I just sat here and found it incredibly difficult to hear the auditor characterize a 17.2 million overspend as minor. This from the very firm hired to bring transparency and accountability

105to a district in crisis. Let's be clear, there's nothing minor about what happened here. In a single fiscal year, this district overspent by 17.2 million. The general fund declined by 1.5 million, including a $1.3 million land purchase. The capital fund, the capital projects fund dropped by 15.5 million. Two categories within the general fund exceeded their legally adopted appropriations. a clear violation of Oregon law. And yet, the only people actually paying the price for this reckless spending are the school staff and students. Dozens of employees have been laid off. Students have lost access to trusted adults and critical support services. These aren't just numbers. These are lives disrupted and futures impacted by decisions they had no hand in. Meanwhile, those responsible at the top haven't faced meaningful accountability. Some were pays some were placed on months

106of paid administrative leave and then quietly paid to exit. This board has since gone on to approve new administrative contracts with inflated salaries and excessive monthly stipens, continuing a pattern of overspending at the leadership level even in the wake of a financial collapse. An employee received nearly a4 million dollar in separation pay. His agreement also contracted him to remain available as a consultant during the leadership transition. So I have to ask why was he rewarded? Why was the person leading during both the financial breakdown and broader leadership failures paid to walk away and then kept on standby for input about the district's future? That decision doesn't reflect fiscal responsibility or ethical leadership. It reflects an effort to protect reputations rather than deliver accountability. Now the district faces pending lawsuits diverting even more public dollars away

107from students and into legal defense. So again, who has actually been held responsible? Because it isn't those who signed off on those decisions. It's the teachers. It's the students and it's the community. This wasn't just mismanagement. It was a failure of ethics, government, and the law. We deserve better, and we are watching. And while we're on the subject of failed leadership, there's an outgoing board member and current county commissioner who just attempted to silence a parent in this very meeting by accusing them of discussing personnel matters and even called for law enforcement. Meanwhile, she herself has gone behind staff members backs and reported them to administration in an effort to take their jobs for nothing more than expressing concerns about her behavior. She sat in this meeting more out of order than anyone and her

108conduct both in and out of the boardroom has been deplorable. It reflects abuse of power, not public service. She should be recalled from her position as commissioner and hely accountable for the damage that she has done to this district in this community. Yeah. Uh man, what did she say at the end of you? Oh, yeah. You need to you need to be done now. Everybody calls next. Thank you very much, Miss Young. All right. And was there any other public comments that needed to be addressed at this point? Okay. All right. So, at this point, we will move on to action items 12.1 K complaint. Um, this is I move to adopt the superintendent's decision as the district's final decision of the written appeal filed with the board and delegate authority of the board chair

109and respond to the complaintants. I second. Okay. Um, is there any discussion that we wanted to end up doing about that? All right. No, it followed the law. Yeah, pretty much just street having to follow the law as set. Um, okay. So moved to adopt the superintendent decision. It's the final um decision is the final decision by this board in the district. Uh all those in favor say I. I. I. I. All right. Motion passes. In response to 12.2 I will and have recused myself from this action. Okay. Um, so the GBM complaint, I move to delegate authority to the board chair to retain an investigator for the purposes of investigating complaints presented to and reviewed by the board in executive session. Second. Okay. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I. All right. Motion

110passes. So, uh, moving on to 12.3, uh, the 2023, uh,-24 audited financial statements. I move that the board accept the 2324 audited financial statements as presented. Second. All right. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I. This motion passes. Uh resolution 2025-007 to approve the plan of action. I guess I'll just keep going. Yeah. I move the board approves the plan of action as presented. Second. Okay. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I I All right. Um, so new superintendent contract for Karine Barreris Brown. I move that the board approves the contract for the new superintendent as presented. Second. All right. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I. All right. Motion passes. Resolution 2025-005 designating Jeff Burns as chief administrative officer, school district clerk, and budget officer effective June 23rd, 2025. I move

111the board approves resolution 2025005 as written. Okay. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I. Motion passes. Resolution 2025-006 revising authorized signers for St. Hel School District effective June 23rd, 2025. I move the board approves resolution 2025- Z006 as written. Second. All right. Moves and seconded. All those in favor? I I motion passes. Uh the NWRD board vacancy for zone 4. I move that the board endorse Michelle Graham to represent our district. I will second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? I. Motion passes. And school board organization meeting set time location. I move that the board's organizational meeting is set for July 16th at 6 PM in the district office boardroom. Okay. Um and others as were presented. Okay. No, this is the organizational meeting. Yeah, just for the organization. She doesn't want

112to do Okay. So, I'll So, she's just holding those. Oh, this is the the organizational, right? But she wanted those other ones done. Is she going to do that later or did we need an action item for that? That's going to be the last one. All right. So, moved and seconded. All those in favor of that? I I All right. Motion passes. And then finally, uh we have the upcoming meeting and board meeting agenda input. Um the budget committee meeting is going to be on June 3rd. Uh and then on June 11th, we have a work session and data review. And then finally, the June 25th will be the regular meeting and budget hearing. And that'll pretty much be it for the year, won't it? That is the last meeting. That's last meeting. Wow. Okay.

113Kind of an error. As I do every time, I will miss the June 11th work session. Okay. Okay. That's understandable. All right. Well, thank you very much everyone for coming. I'm going to stick around for a while in order to see if I can answer any questions that people may end up having or any discussions. Um I don't know if Christy, are you going to be available for other people as well? Okay, perfect. All right. Thank you very much everyone for coming and your testimony. It is very much appreciated. Thank you. Asian.