001Good evening. The time is 5:37. Uh, welcome. It's March uh 24th. Welcome to the uh regular board of directors meeting. Please rise with me for the pledge of allegiance. >> 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. >> Thank you, Jenny Grwalt. Director Grwalt has her land acknowledgement. >> Evergreen Public Schools resides on the traditional lands of the Chinukan peoples and the Kitz tribe. They have lived on and cared for this land and its waterways since time of memorial. We thank them for their stewardship and make this acknowledgement to open a space of recognition, inclusion, and respect for all indigenous students, families, and staff in our community. >> Thank you, Director Gonewald. Uh,
002the first item on our agenda is to adopt tonight's agenda. >> I move to adopt tonight's agenda as presented. >> Second. been moved and seconded by directors Grwalt and Bokenegra to adopt tonight's agenda as presented. All in favor? >> I I motion carries. Um I'll just use the screen up there. The next item on the agenda is our superintendent report. Dr. Maloney. >> Thank you very much and good evening. The two operational expectation policies that are the focus of my superintendent's report today are OE5 financial planning and OE6 financial administration. So today I am sharing changes that um have occurred as a result of further feedback and analysis and discussion since the last board workshop on February 24th regarding the 20 26 2027 initial budget reduction plan. I'm going to begin with the budget status
003update and then end with an overview of the changes to the final budget reduction plan that you will see uh today. So, okay. So, the budget update um the budget update status report. So, our actual beginning fund balance uh back in August 2025 that was approved um was about $22 million. Our budgeted revenue for was 462 uh million and our budgeted expenditure is 467 million. You can see right there that there is a deficit that is occurring. Our projected ending fund balance for this coming year um was going to be 16.9 million with a budget deficit of the 5.2 million that the board has seen before. Next, please. Okay. We've had some major deviations from that budget that was put before the board this last August. One of the things we did not anticipate was
004the increased in enrollment decline. Uh we've had lost about 28 FTE that we did not anticipate. We went with the low projections uh from FL Analytics regarding our incoming kindergarten class and overall um enrollment. And uh with even with going with the low projection for our budget this coming year, we still came in with $28 less FTE and that equals about $2.3 million in loss there um to our overall budget. And I'm going to talk about how we're going to address that in a little bit. Our special education uh we had increased PARA costs and so um that was a deficit there $2.5 uh million. Our special education increased in safety net. So this is a testament to the work that was done by our special education staff around safety net. So safety net is
005um a a program uh through our state and federal government where we can uh go and recoup some of the costs that is that is required to provide certain supports for some of our higher need students. And um we project out how much we will get in return from the state regarding safety net. and our um our staff did such a wonderful job that our projection was lower than what we actually am now going to recoup um from the state. So we have a plus about a million dollars there that we will be able to add into our budget um thanks to the work of those uh staff members in special education or transportation. We have a decline in writership and that is directly linked to our decline in enrollment. So we're looking at just
006under half a million dollars there. Um, one of the other things I know director Wilson had talked about uh moving security for 2026 to the our technology and security levy and yes um our financial team uh did do that and our levy kicks in on kicked in on January 26 and so we were able to move some of our security staff uh payroll uh and uh payments to our technology and security levy. Again, that does stop some of the other projects that we had planned in that technology and security levy and but it does help save us in the general fund. So, we're able to save $1.3 million there. Overall, when you add all these things together, unfortunately, we're looking at a projected deficit of 8 almost 8.2 million. That is $3 million difference from
007what we had projected originally in August of 2025 that the board had seen. Okay, next one please. Okay, so as I just stated but in a different way here, our updated projected ending fund balance for this year is 13.9 almost $14 million. That unfortunately now is 1.6% of our overall unrestricted fund balance and that is well below what we were anticipating it to be. Next, please. Okay, I talked a little bit about our enrollment uh decline. uh we had over a 100 kindergarteners less than anticipated even with the low projections from our flow analytics demographer. Um so we have to rightsize for that. So that means that basically that equates with certificated teaching staff 14 FTE nine of which are in the elementary level and five of which are actually at the high school level.
008And so that is a negative almost $2.2 u million. And I'll talk about how that plays in here um as I go through my superintendent report. And the last slide up here regarding just the budget update is transitional kindergarten. Unfortunately um the legislature chose to uh make some cuts in transitional kindergarten. And as educators, we all know that that those early learning years are so important for our children to provide them with a great foundation so that they can actually excel and um uh meet standards as they move throughout our you know K12 system. And that foundation is so essential and there is tons of data that backs up the um the highly effectiveness of transitional kindergarten. However, we are losing two TK classrooms. Um, and so that will affect what I share with you
009on our final budget reduction plan. The other thing that came out of our legislature was the levy equalization allocation. Um, this was significantly cut. We were not expecting that. Typically, we get about $10 million for our levy equalization allocation and that was what was shared originally uh with us from the state. Um and then our uh our financial team was being very very prudent. Instead of saying and budgeting for us for this year uh $10 million, they chose to budget half of that um in in anticipation that there may be some cuts to levy equalization. They did not anticipate, however, that we would be cut another 3 million on top of that. And so we are only receiving for levy equalization allocation $2 million this year. And so that is $3 million less than what
010we budgeted for conservatively. And then that is $8 million less than what we originally were anticipating from the state. So those are things that are impacting our current budget and future as we move forward. So now I would like to uh did we go backwards? There we go. Okay. Now I would like to move to the 2026 2027 final budget reduction plan. There are some changes from when the board went over this. We had a work session completely dedicated to going through each single line item and um the reasoning behind them and why they were uh chosen to be part of this specific budget reduction plan. We have gone through $60 million, a little over $60 million worth of reductions in the last four years, and we had a reprieve last year, but this year
011we are now looking at having to cut um 14 plus million dollars. Um there are some things down at the bottom. I do want to point out this is a three-year process that we have to go through to rightsize our district's fund balance so that we can have the funds to pay the bill and be financially solvent for our students and for our community. Uh so at the bottom there there were some budget reduction ideas that were talked about this year. Some came out of um discussions with different leadership groups with staff and with the budget committee as well. But we are looking at those down the road for next year and the I mean for the for 2027 28 and the 2829 school year. So, those are some of the ideas that were brought
012forward and then tabled because it needed more review um and more time uh spent really looking at those options and what they mean for us um here in Evergreen and how they may impact our student um supports overall. So, the ones up above, I'm going to share the changes that have occurred since we uh last had that um board work session and our 2 by twos. So the first one is on the all nonrepresented staff furlow four days that is a pay cut. Um we are um having furlow days uh required for all nonrepresented staff that make over $100,000 a year. Okay. Um and part of that is um uh our dean positions. You'll notice that that number has gone up because we are adding in this plan dean positions and those are non-represented staff
013as well. Okay. The second change is under the associate principles under elementary PR under under elementary schools that has increased by two. So we are um cutting two more associate principles and replacing them with two deans. Okay. So those are the two changes there. That is um directly related to our legislature who chose to uh make cuts to transitional kindergarten. our transitional kindergarten students are counted as part of the enrollment for our elementary schools and those schools um dropped below the 400 mark and then therefore we're um slated to then have a full-time dean versus an associate principal or a halftime associate principal. Again, directly related to our transitional kindergarten, if you look down towards the bottom, uh you see where that little uh there's a little carrot. Oh, no, actually, I'm sorry. I jumped
014too far. Um, right underneath the associate principles and uh the dean line is basic ed certificated teachers enrollment decline and that has a little carrot next to it. Um, again that relates directly to transitional kindergarten. We are losing two classrooms and so that would be two more FTE um in the basic ed certificated teachers. Okay. And then at the bottom part there where it says classified para educators, we um are going to be losing 1.3 FTE in our PAR educators again directly related to transitional kindergarten cuts from the state on the right hand side um almost uh straight across there the there is an addition so we have additional student support with high poverty lap funds. So, as we talked um prior to this regarding we are sunsetting our transitional coach program and those um
015were paid for through lap funds. Um, we have lap high poverty funds that are designated based on the socioeconomic demographics of each of our schools and that equates to $230,000 and that is FTE that building principles can decide how they may want to use that to uh provide additional student support and that is a principal building decision regarding those high poverty funds. that is not funds that come straight to the district and the district um makes determinations about how those are used. So principles be able to say I want a.5 or I want a point 2 or I want a 1.0 uh student support person doing the certain types of responsibilities and and roles within their school based on the needs within their individual school. So that is a change from what we had prior
016and then additional C reduction due to the 2526 enrollment decline. That's the line directly underneath. Um I talked about that in the budget um update. Uh that is 14 teachers uh CTE or excuse me 14 FTE uh teachers. that is listed up here as costneutral because the state's not going to give us any funding for that because our enrollment um our funding is based on the enrollment of students and we are not going to expend that cost for next year. So we are going to that'll be costneutral on there. I want to point out that the total FTE reduction before any new positions are added is 126.1 FTE and you will see that on the resolution that you have later on in your agenda for a consideration for board action. The overall total net reductions
017when you add back in the dean of student positions and you add back in um the um instruct or language and instruction coaches. um those bring us back down to a total net reduction of 82.3. The overall number that we are proposing in this final budget reduction plan is 14.438 million. So that concludes my superintendent report today. >> Thank you, Dr. Maloney. Not good news at all. I appreciate you your cander about it. >> Would we be able to ask a question or >> Okay. >> The um Oh, it just moved off the screen. The um 230,000 the adding back for the um lap funds. >> Yes. >> See if it gets back up there. That that's at the >> I'm going to bring it back up. >> Oh, okay. That's at the discretion of
018the high school principles. >> Um yes, it's actually at the discretion of the middle school or the high school principal and they have varied amounts that they are allocated based on their social economic uh demographic in their buildings. And I imagine parents and staff could petition maybe them for to use it for replacing in part the transition coach or some of the duties of the transition coach or >> it would need to be a different position because we are um uh sunsetting the transition coach program, but there are lots of responsibilities and roles that uh principles know that uh a possible new position for student support would be helpful with. >> Yeah. maybe a student engagement position or >> well so to to Gary's point and his question I think the important thing that I
019think for all of us to understand is that the things that maybe that the transition coaches were doing that they'll still be supported by staff throughout the school whether or not they have that extra funding or not. So just making sure that there's a plan in place to continue to support students. >> Yes, there there is. I think that's an important um that's an important point. Maybe we can uh fold it into the discussion about the resolution um when that point comes in the in the agenda. Okay. Okay. Uh the next item on the agenda is public comments. I'll need a moment to get the lists and things up. Okay, I'll do my best with what we got here. Um, any community any community member uh wishing to address the board on matters of public
020u concern may do so during the designated time on the agenda for public comments. Uh comments are to be uh directed to the board of directors as a whole and may not be um addressed to any individual member of the board, any administrative staff or any member of the audience. The board will not engage in dialogue and will not be able to respond to uh concerns raised about personnel issues um or other similar topics uh which can be addressed through uh our policies. Um, however, the board chair may ask a speaker a clarifying question or direct the superintendent to follow up at a later time on an issue raised during public comment. Um, each speaker will have a maximum of three minutes. There is no mechanism whereby uh a speaker can um yield the time
021to another speaker. And uh I think we've got where did it go? Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. We have 12 speakers tonight. All of them uh here in person. Uh so we'll go down the list uh in the order of signup here. >> Excuse me. Board President, >> are we going to continue the practice of not videotaping the speakers? I wouldn't consider it a practice, but the plan for today is to um is to uh switch the camera as has been done in the past. >> Okay. Does that mean videoing the speaker? >> It does. It means their their image will be transmitted uh over the broadcast. >> The first speaker is uh Canoa Castro. Canoa Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Thank you for having me here tonight. When you
022look at a budget sheet, you may see um me numbers. You see cuts and necessary decisions. When we look at fifth grade band or we don't see numbers, we see beginnings. We see the first time a student picks up his instrument with shaking hands. We see the quiet kid who finally finds a voice without speaking. We see friendships forming in the pauses between notes. Cutting these programs doesn't just remove a class. It silences a passion that may have just started to grow. The district's own motto is belonging for each success for all. That is exactly what these programs mean to us. You know there's a saying music speaks music speaks what cannot be expressed soothes the mind and gives it rest. For many students, band orchestra are more than electives. They are an escape, a
023passion, and sometimes the only place where they feel understood. Taking that away at such a young age sends a message that creativity is expendable, that expression is optional, and that not every student's voice deserves to be heard. I'd like to ask you this. What happens to a song never played? Does it fade into silence or does it stay in the hands of a child who never got the chance? Elementary music is where everything begins. Without fifth grade programs, fewer students will continue. Fewer students will discover their passion. This decision doesn't just affect one grade. It echoes through the entire future of the music programs throughout this district that we've worked so hard to build up. And that is why this proposal is so confusing. While we're told about declining enrollments, our orchestra program is one
024of the fastest growing music programs in this entire district. Why would we pull the rug out from under a program that's actually succeeding? Why would we choose to dismantle the foundation of a program that is that more and more students are choosing to join every year? To cut a growing program isn't just a budget move, is an active choice to stifle our students momentum. And perhaps most importantly, this program creates inequality. Not every student can afford private lessons, instruments, or outside programs. For many, school music is their only opportunity. Removing it doesn't just limit access. It closes the door entirely. If this board's mission is to nurture well-rounded, confident, and capable students and a sense of community and belonging, then you cannot afford to take away one of the few spaces that nurtures all those
025things at once. Creating an atm atmosphere of creativity, community, and belonging builds discipline, confidence, and academic excellence. Ben and Orchestra students have some of the highest combined GPA of our schools. What's the logic in undermining a program that inspires success and harmony? This isn't just about music. It's about voices. It's about opportunity and ensuring every student has a place for their voices to be heard. Don't let their music end before it even begins. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Rebecca Goldman. >> It's going to need to come down. >> Good evening. >> Hi there. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Hi there. I'm Rebecca Goldman, a mom to a district preschooler. Um, we're in another tough situation, so I'm going to say it's gentle parenting
026time again. Let's go. Hi, friends. Let me interrupt you right there. Please address the board with respect. >> That is the way I talk to my children and I have so much respect for them and I have respect for you as well. Thank you. >> I don't wish to argue the point. I wish to uh request that you speak to the board with respect as adults. >> Okay. Um hi friends. I heard you're upset because some friends keep coming to these meetings and saying the same things. I know it feels that way. uh let's put on our listening ears and try again. Our friends keep asking for the same things, but each time they're sharing different evidence with you. Now, we we don't always know if our friends are telling the truth. Maybe we weren't
027there or we don't remember what happened or we remember one thing and our friend remembers a different thing. >> I will ask you once again to address the board as adults. >> I get nervous when I speak and my voice goes up like this. I'm not sure what to say. Um um we then we have to look for evidence. We have to make a public records request. Then we can say, "Hey, remember when you sent this email? You are saying one thing now and these emails from before say a different thing. Uh-oh. I I hear you. This is it's a hard situation for all of us. We think our friends are being honest. We assume positive intent. And then we look at the evidence and we learn that things that look okay on the outside
028can be yucky on the inside. Like a beautiful new school building with sewage smells in the walls. When we build trust, it's like stacking bricks in a tall tower. And then the truth comes in and knocks that tower right over. And that is so hard even for grown-ups. When some friends have not been honest with us, it's really hard to trust them again. We try to rebuild our tower, but now the ground is a little wobbly and those blocks don't fit together quite right. We need accountability. Accountability. It's like saying sorry with consequences. And after that, if rebuilding trust is still really hard, we need restorative justice. That's when I think you know um think about the evidence our friends have been sharing with you. Think about all the witnesses you could talk to, all
029the documents you could read, all the questions you could ask to really find out what's going on. And be truthful with yourself right now. Are you making your very best effort? I know you can do it. You can do hard things. Thank you. I'm done with my speech, but I am not all done. Thank you for your comments and thank you for accommodating my request. >> Camille Lman. >> My name is Camille. I'm a parent, a bonus mom, a volunteer of two PTAs, a booster of the foundation, and the community engagement board. I rattle all that off because I'm not someone who just comes and complains at board meetings. I take significant action to be part of the change that I want to see in this world, starting with this district. 100% of the students
030I meet at the community engagement board do not experience a sense of belonging in our schools. And I'm not being hyperbolic. This is the most significant theme for why students are truent. Yet the very few things that have been been and are continuing to be reduced during budget cuts like transition coaches, electives, anything engaging leaves very few reasons for these struggling students to be motivated to attend school, resulting in additional enrollment decline requiring even more budget cuts. That said, I've just exercised my right to speak in this public forum to inform the board about this, but it's likely that I will not be able to do so in the future in the same manner. It's on the agenda for the board to have their first reading of the highly concerning revisions to policy 1440, which
031were discussed at the board workshop last Tuesday. At first glance, it appears to just be an update in compliance with the current RCW regarding the requirement for board meetings to be audio record uh recorded. However, when paired with Director Perkins sudden unilateral decision to not have public comment on video audio only for last week's meeting, it is quite difficult to believe that this was a mere coincidence rather than an intentional effort to suppress citizen voices. When leadership prioritizes institutional preservation over community transparency, trust erodess. Protecting the system cannot come at the expense of the people that the system was created to serve. We've had a significant amount of important public comments at these board meetings. This is what public comment is for. unfiltered, sometimes uncomfortable for those in power, but essential. It's how community holds
032its elected officials accountable, a core function of a healthy democracy. Earlier this week, I followed up on Danny Stevenson's email where he had provided the board with all the evidence from the state auditor's office, clearly demonstrating that on February 10th, 2026, the superintendent had provided false information on the board's behalf to the public. I then provided the board with transcripts relating to what had occurred during a lawsuit involving a former middle school principal and COO, Jana Gomes. The principal had been accused of misconduct and then cleared by an outside investigator. But according to testimony from Miss Gomes, director Bokanaggra for some reason initiated a second investigation specifically focusing on concerns about honesty and integrity. The second investigation led to findings that the principal had been less than forthcoming and ultimately resulted in discipline and eventually
033separating from the district. So we're left with this. You now have evidence from the state auditor and the superintendent's public statements on February 10th were false. You know that the superintendent, the CFO, and members of this board met with the state auditor in January and again in the spring as part of the accountability audit. You know, the facts surrounding the September 4th, 2023 supplemental contracts were not disclosed in those meetings. And you know, because this isn't optional, that the district has an affirmative duty to disclose when internal controllers have controls have been bypassed or disabled, which they were. With all that in front of the board, there should be no question of awareness. The question is of action and the responsibility on the shoulders of the board to place the superintendent on administrative leave and
034to initiate a formal investigation as this board has chosen to do before. As for the complaint policy that keeps being referenced in the public comment preamble, I ask the board to please review their own policy that they keep insisting we follow as there is no true mechanism in which we can use it to complain. Public comment is currently our only recourse. Back to the budget real quick because I didn't think I'd have time and the timer went away. It is clear that the budget cuts have to happen. No one's refuting that. But the way this district goes about communicating and obtaining feedback pales in comparison to surrounding districts who are posting, your time has expired. >> Okay. Well, the timer went away. >> Thank you for your comments. Our next uh speaker is Angie Bunda.
035Hello, my name is Angie Bunda and I'm a parent in the district. I was present at a board workshop last week and it was surprising to hear that the main topic being addressed was modifying a policy as to the public comments right in the middle of a budget crisis. There were many troubling aspects involved in the relation to the board's actions. one being that it was indicated the former ESD president uh Weatherspoon was the reason the board was looking at modifying policy 1440. It's hard to believe this was the case as she never had a history of restricting public comment and raised the question of why she would do this right before her resignation. Another was the fact that the ESD board was relying on legal advice of an attorney whose very advice would be
036effectively be limiting public comment when he was the primary subject of the last eight weeks of public comment. Why would the board pay for this person to advise them on this topic with such an obvious conflict? The board has been asked for weeks to address an issue relating to the supplemental contracts, an accountability audit by the state auditor, and the disabling of an internal controls raised by Danny Stevenson, and the board has not responded. Gary Wilson has asked the board three times since February 10th, 2026, for an investigation into the COO's actions, which occurred on January 14th of this year, and there's been no known board action on this issue. However, I was impressed by how quickly the board responded to the League of Women Voters when they reached out to the board about their
037workshop and the proposed changes to policy 1440 and the attempts to limit public participation. Many are thankful to the League of Women Voters for paying attention with those of us in the general public who don't want our speech limited during public comments. Shifting back to the concerns raised by Danny Stevenson with a comparison in mind, it appears that the state auditors were unaware of the failure of internal controls. Danny Stevenson's latest email should have been responded to by this point. It's clear that the board is ignoring issues raised which can impact the district with respect to a future complaint to the state to the state auditors relating to failure to disclose information and the superintendent's false or misstating statements about the state auditor's office at the February 10th board meeting. Does it take the action
038of an established group like the League of Women Voters who are a nonpartisan grassroots nonprofit dedicated to empowering participation in democracy or a more focused political action committee of a specific nature to get the attention of the ESD to move to action based on recent events? It would seem to be the case at this point. Engaging with the board at meeting through public comment has only led to many of the board members wanting to change the rules and stop public commenters, limiting both their speech and access. With a current lack of action by the district in the face of all the facts that have been presented, perhaps the voters should consider forming an entity, a pack with an eye toward recall efforts for some board members. One thing is clear, with a lack of trust
039and accountability shown by our decision makers and board, how can we trust that today's budget vote is in the best interest of our children? Who have all these actions truly served and why? Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Our next speaker is Katherine Ferdick. >> Good evening. My name is Katherine Ferdick and my four children completed their K12 education through EPS. I'm bringing up concerns over contradictions I've observed over the last several years regarding public comments. I'll start sh by sharing parts of a 2024 email from myself uh to the board. I especially appreciated the conversation regarding interaction with the community and the time allowed for public comments. I can concur with one director that the tighter time of two minutes despite the challenge did create more impactful messages. But within that,
040I can also concur with another director that the less time public was given to speak, the temperature definitely rose and it became increasingly negative. I appreciated another director's comments regarding having learned that people just need to be able to speak and given the time needed to do so because she's correct. Limiting the time and capping the number of speakers only increases anger and resentment. People are desperate to be heard and acknowledged. Fast forward to last Tuesday's workshop observation, an intensely focused effort to revise how many citizens could speak on a given topic or at all. Cons coincidentally at the time of another major budget vote. Now we're having hearing contradictory thoughts on public comment by those same directors. We can't forget that we have work to do. It can take so much time of a
041meeting that they can't get to their work. So the work of the board can proceed after a set time. Citizen comments have taken a lot of our time just figuring out how to proceed. Yes, you have a job to do. You are supposed to be the public facing democratically elected peace, the public's voice in education. Listening to us less does not help you get your work done. What do you define as the work you need to do if it doesn't include listening to the public? Because hearing your constituents share their concerns over farreaching issues or the problems you refuse to address is apparently not part of your important work at the evening. Because we could email and get a prefuncter, we've received your email response, which was also a board workshop topic where you discussed
042at length who was even necessary to respond to, how, or at all. District communication from March 2024. In response to feedback we received from students, families and staff, we have removed security staff from the reductions, we heard repeatedly that security in our schools should be prioritized and this change was made in response. And now this last Tuesday's workshop, we don't need the repetition of so many on one topic, the monopolization by of the same topic of comment. Uh we don't want 40 minutes on the same topic. So if so many people are speaking on one topic, doesn't that indicate it's a priority of the community? The same rationale that you've heard enough people speak on fifth grade band and orchestra that you don't need more repetition is the one that by the district's own accounts
043saved security in 2024. So limit speakers so you can say not that many citizens actually care about the issues and then say the limited who do are not that an adequate or accurate representation of community concerns. That sounds awfully convenient and dare I say intentional. I would like to assume positive intent, but I've just truly seen too much in the last three years. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Kasha Sims, I'm sorry. Uh Kendall Teeman. Good evening. My name is Kendall Teeman and I am an EA union member and address the issues in that capacity. I open today with the term plausible deniability and the concept of when it no longer exists. On September 2023, Danny Stevenson who is the payroll employee who was tasked to process the September 4, 2023 supplemental
044contracts. He is the only one who attempted to implement ESD internal controls relating in summary to paying overtime to legally exempt salaried employees and employees who are asking to be paid overtime for a day that they had not worked yet. In 2023, Mr. Stevenson indirectly reached out to a board member, the current president in summary raising concerns about the disabled controls and within two days he was placed on administrative leave by the COO, then involuntarily separated. On October 10th, 24, Mr. Stevenson appeared at the ESD hearing and provided you all with documents and statements about what had occurred. After that hearing, the superintendent met with the state auditors multiple times. The state auditor has no record about the September 4, 2023 supplemental contracts or that internal controls were disabled. Last week, Mr. Stevenson sent an
045email provided you with written proof from the state auditors and confirmed that they have no record of the September 4, 2023 supplemental contracts and that these contracts were never part of the state auditor's fisc year 24 accountability audit. This was followed up by an email from Camille Lman. You were all here on You were all here when superintendent on February 10th, 2026 at 18 minutes 36 seconds into the public record where she stated the following as fact that the state auditor had examined the district's financial practices for an in short fiscal year 24. And she went on to say that the state auditor determined that no material non-compliance was identified, including in regarding to supplemental contracts for Miss Gomes and others on the bargaining team that year. Based on what you have been provided, all
046of you have been provided, you know that Superintendent Maloney stated something that was not true. You all have proof in emails. You are part of the process for the accountability audits. This deception was engaged in in your name on February 10th, 2026. You no longer have plausible deniability on this issue. There is no such thing as plausible accountability. How do we trust anything during this budget crisis if we cannot trust the superintendent? In turn, how do you trust her? It is way past time for action, but please act to simply hold the superintendent accountable. Please act to protect the taxpayers, students, teachers, paras, and all other employees of this district. Place the superintendent on leave and open investigation relating to her violations of policies on issues of this integrity. Our next speaker is Kasha Sims.
047>> Adam Aguilera. Thank you, Mr. Aguilera. >> Dear Evergreen School Board and Superintendent Maloney, my name is Adam Aguilera and I'm speaking as a member of the Evergreen Education Association. Tonight, I need to address something that happened between board meetings. A workshop was held to amend policy 1440. the policy governing public comment. The district's attorney, Garrett Williams, advised these changes. That name should be familiar to this board. He has been the subject of public comment at the last five board meetings, specifically regarding false or misleading statements about the district's interactions with the state auditor's office, about the Kaiser investigation, and about a former payroll employee, Danny Stevenson. Let's be clear, we are in the middle of a budget crisis. This board is facing an upcoming accountability audit by the state auditor. There are legitimate unresolved
048questions about administrator conduct, including actions taken by Chief Operations Officer Jana Gomes on January 14th against the president of PSSE and misleading statements made by the superintendent at the February 10th board meeting. And yet, the energy being directed here is towards limiting the public's ability to exercise their free speech rights. Not only is the board threatening to restrict the public from participating in their democracy, they are also putting taxpayers at risk by violating laws concerning accessibility. As of tonight, this district is 31 days from the federal compliance deadline for the ADA Title 2 final rule. By intentionally disabling YouTube closed captions and voting to remove transcripts from board meeting minutes despite Director Wilson's objections, you are not simply reducing transparency. you are actively rolling back accessibility in ways that likely violate both section 504 of
049the rehabilitation act and the approaching ADA deadline. In other words, the Evergreen School Board is creating a digital blackout for deaf and hearing impaired constituents. Budget cuts are coming. Associate principles, elementary music programs, instructional and transi transition coaches. These are real people, real programs. It is genuinely difficult to explain to constituents why in that context this board is prioritizing restrictions on public input. This choice to embrace restrictions um uh and ignore bad behavior from the COO does not reflect good governance. It reflects an impulse towards nepotism over accountability. Why does the school board allow the superintendent to enable bad behavior and misconduct of her chief operations officer when district staff have been forced to resign for less? Why, in the midst of 14 million in cuts, has the school board continued to allow the chief
050operations officer to use public resources to fund her private criminal defense. This board should be responding to voters, not silencing them. I ask you to abandon the proposed policy 1440 changes. address of the legitimate accountability concerns before you and meet your legal obligations to every member of this community, including those who cannot hear you speak. Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is Caseia Sims. Thank you for the correction. My name is Ashley Caseia Brown. I'm a teacher and a parent in the district. >> Caseia Brown, welcome. >> First, I wanted to clarify that um it's my understanding that a studentf facing position is generally referring to a staff position that literally sees students faces every day. I'm wondering how anyone in this school district can in good conscience be making over $200,000 a
051year when we are making these kinds of cuts. It's time for a voluntary reduction in salary because certain salaries are incredibly inflated. Second, our school board is composed of people who make decisions about and for all students. However, it is made up of some of the most privileged people in our community. The ones who have the time and the money to get themselves elected. Please understand that your job as a school board member is a community service. With that in mind, I challenge each of you to spend zero dollars on the next election campaign and instead donate the same amount that you spent on your last year's campaign to our family and community resource centers. Next, if for some reason you have convinced yourselves that John Boyd since John Boyd approved the supplemental contract, it
052was okay. Uh I believe you are misunderstanding your responsibilities, the responsibilities of your role. You are the oversight. When the people in charge abuse their power, their authority, it is your collective responsibility to step in and protect our students. Finally, I believe each of you have the superintendent and the CEO have a fiduciary responsibility to our students. If you approve this budget, you will be defaulting on that duty. I have a little bit more time and I would just like to stand here and look at each of you. I think you can do better. I hope you can do better. I know that you know that they don't have to do this tonight. We are not in a time crunch. This doesn't have to be decided tonight. You each have the power and the authority
053to vote no. You can. And you can save band and orchestra, which you really better do. Thank you for your time. Evan Axon. >> Good evening. >> Uh, good evening. Uh, my name is Evan Axon. Uh, I'm a resident of District 4, which means I do not have representation on this board currently. Um, I'm concerned with the proposed budget adjustment plan that will significantly reduce the number of elementary school teachers in our district. As a parent of a child who is sitting in the back row who will be starting kindergarten at Milplane in the fall, the thought of sending her to school already keeps me up at night. Will she make friends? Will she struggle? Will she have a favorite teacher? Will she be prepared for middle school and high school and college and life
054as an adult after that? If this budget moves forward, I'll now be thinking, will that favorite teacher get laid off? Will she have support from staff when she does struggle inevitably? How many of her friends will be affected by these cuts? when her younger brother, who was also back there, gets to school in 2029, how many of those cuts will have been restored, and how many will have made worse? These are formative years. They lay the foundation for the entirety of a child's experience, not just in school, but outside it as well. Well-resourced schools produce good students who become educated citizens who produce healthy and thriving communities for all of us. Why are we proposing cutting so much from the students that need the most at this point in their journey? I'm asking this board
055to do more, to find another way to keep these jobs for teachers and staff and to provide an environment for our children that lets them grow without adding to the adversity of excelling in underresourced circumstances. Um, I do have a little bit more time and I do just want to say that um, >> Rebecca is my neighbor and a friend of mine. And I think that she was disrespected earlier. And I think that if she communed a way that made her comfortable, it should have been fine. We are allowed to come up here and speak our minds. You're allowed to sit there and listen. But I think that it was very disrespectful to cut her off the way that you did and I just want to say that on the record publicly. Thank you. Thank
056you for your comments. Our next speaker is Pulson. respected board of adults. As a parent in this district and a voter who is consistently votes yes on levies, I'm alarmed by the proposed cuts to student programs like fifth grade band and essent and essential studentf facing positions including associate prince principles. Eliminating fifth grade bands and other studentf facing programs has marginal impacts on the overall budget. Cutting programs this small does not does little to fix the deficit yet removes one of the few early arts opportunities that research consistently links to higher engagement, improved attendance, and stronger academic outcomes. Eliminating student-f facing roles like associate principles weakens the support systems students and teachers rely on every day. Doing so while leadership in the district office receives annual pay raises sends the message that district priorities are
057not aligned with student needs. I'm also concerned by the proposed revisions to policy 1440 and others which weaken transparency by narrowing what must be documented in board minutes and removing requirements to create detailed recordings of complex discussions. policy also adds a broad good faith uh exemption for missing or um unusable audio without defining what good faith means. Creating a loophole that allows critical parts of meetings to go unrecorded without accountability. As a parent and a consistent pro-levy voter, I expect the board to prioritize cuts so that student programs and studentf facing support and teacher support roles remain a top priority moving forward. I also expect our elected officials to operate with the highest levels of transparency and not hide behind vague policies written to allow the district to avoid accountability on technicalities. Thank you for
058your comments. Our next speaker is Mindy Trer Cooper. Sorry. Good evening. My name is Mindy Tropher Cooper. I am one of the PAR educators from the TK program that has been cut. I am also the president of PSSE. I have been coming to you for weeks asking for assistance and to stop retaliation and that has been met with deaf ears apparently. So I will give you one last speech because it sounds like we aren't going to have a lot of opportunity going forward. On January 13, 2026, I was here to support a member who was speaking on behalf of her union and my own about your scent policy. On January 14th, 2026, I was contacted by the COO during work hours and I have provided that information to you in declarations. I have witnessed by
059video or in person board member Gary Wilson request an investigation three times on February 10th, February 24th, and March 10th. During the board's public comment period, Danny Stevenson included me in his most recent email to the board, which included emails from the state auditor confirming that the superintendent on February 10th made statements about the fiscal 2024 audit that were false or misleading. Many of us in PSSE are being impacted by these cuts that are being implemented due to this budget crisis. Our transitional coaches and now our TK program. There are so many associate principles that are also being impacted. There are other men others being impacted. Our kids 36 kids will not receive education next year in our TK program because of these cuts. May not seem like many to you, but it means a
060lot to their families. With the current information relating to the superintendent providing false or misleading statements about what was disclosed to the Washington state auditors, how are we supposed to place any confidence in information being provided to us about how the decisions are being made relating to these budget cuts? If you will provide false statements to people about the audits, then how can we rely on you about these cuts to the budget? You all took oaths to support constitutions of the United States and the state of Washington and the laws that go with those and to faithfully discharge your duties of this office to the best of your ability. As you can see from my declaration on all of the other information which has been provided to you up to this point in 2024 uh
061a third party investigation was conducted and no one provided information about Danny Stevenson to the third party investigator. On October 10th, Danny Stevenson appeared before all of you and gave you all the facts relating to his efforts to apply the internal controls in place at the payroll department from October 10th, 2024 until March of 2026. I'll just email you. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Speaker is Sean Gundard. Good evening. Thank you. Uh Sean Gunner, high school science teacher. I'm here to discuss the filling of the open schoolboard position. I've been working as a high school teacher in Evergreen for 10 years now. And to my understanding, the following is a list of the school directors who were originally appointed. Todd user Ria, Julie Boanegra, Rob Perkins, Rachel Rogers, Jackie Weatherspoon. In my
06210 years, to my count, that's five out of the nine directors that have served on the board that were originally appointed to the position. This essentially means that the board has a history of determining the majority of its own composition. As many of us know, there's a lot of authority and privilege that comes along with incumbency to the point of greatly impacting subsequent election outcomes. And this history of appointment raises some pretty big red flags for a board that's been facing ongoing public scrutiny uh whether justified or not. for reasons related to democracy, transparency, and accountability. I'm concerned with the current position opening midterm that will also be filled via an appointment process. Here is what would alleviate my and others' concerns about this specific issue. Number one, that the board ensure that anyone appointed
063to this or any other open board position will be serving in a stewardship role, freely committing to not running for election in the next general election. Number two, that the board conduct all interviews for this position and future open positions and all conversations possible surrounding this role and future roles in public during public meetings. Three, that current and future elected board members commit to fulfilling the entirety of their term and endeavor to fulfill this commitment. And four, that the board consider a decision-making process around the filling of board positions that includes all stakeholders. As you open applications for and consider the newly opened board position, I ask our board as public servants to please take these concerns into account. I'm freely offering you a small step toward restoration of public trust within our district. And
064uh I ask and encourage you to take it. Uh I can send you this to send this to you in writing. I'm not really asking for response. I am asking for open uh an open mind with as far as transparency and democracy goes. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. You're welcome to send the comment as in writing as well. >> The next item on the agenda is our board consent agenda. Is there a motion? >> I'll move for approval of the board consent agenda. >> Second. Director Boengger has moved and uh Director Grwalt seconded approval of the board of consent agenda as presented. All in favor? >> I I motion carries. The next item is the superintendent's consent agenda. Is there a motion? >> I move to approve the superintendent's consent agenda as presented.
065>> Second. >> Director Grwald has moved and director Wilson seconded uh to approve the superintendent consent agenda as presented. All in favor? >> I motion carries. >> Next item on our agenda is um matters reserved for board action and we'll take up resolution number 7121. Uh first, um Superintendent Maloney uh discussed the details of the uh proposed action uh for a reduced educational program, but I think um after we get a motion to uh take action on this uh matter, we'll open it up for discussion and uh if you're willing, we can uh ask you further questions. >> Okay. Is there a motion? >> Are we on I'm sorry. Seven >> 7121. >> Um I move for adoption of resolution number 7121. >> Second. Director Bokengger has moved and Director Grwalt seconded um approval of
066resolution number 7121 reduced educational program. Um any discussion? Uh Director Boken, do you want to start? >> Yeah. Um I just want um everybody to know that these decisions are never easy. We've done this um too many times. Um, you know, we've been on a since we've come back from CO, it's just been an enrollment decline for years and we've tried to right size and we've done actually I thought we were doing pretty good job and getting stable the last couple of years. Um, but just unfortunately our funding is just not keeping up with the rising costs that are inflationary. Um, this legislative system was disappointing. We didn't get the funding that we expected even just to keep up with cost, but then we lost some of that money in levy equalization and the um
067the prek program which is really disheartening because that we know that's the best start for our students. Um it's difficult to to do this and whenever there's a person behind and a and a person in those positions, you never want to make these cuts. Now, I do know that historically because I've been in the seat for a while and we've had to make some hard decisions over the years. Our district's done a really good job of managing attrition and keeping people employed. Sometimes they have to apply for another position. Um, we've tried to restructure the best that we can to try to move positions around to fund them from other from other ways. Um, and not only to keep people employed, which is important, but to continue to provide services for our students and maintain
068educational programs. We're here to educate students. That's our priority. And um, sometimes tough decisions and things we have to rep prioritize and it's unfortunate that we have to make some of these decisions. I do want to say that I do appreciate comments that we've received. We've got a lot of comments around um the fifth grade band and orchestra, the transition coaches. We've gotten some on instructional instructional coaches in our schools. Um and I want to say a couple things about um band and orchestra first because one of the things as a board director that I've kind of hung my hat on for all of these years is always wanting to provide programs for students. That's like essential to me. And so when we have to make a cut that affects and this is I think
069like maybe one of the first times that I can recall where we actually did some things um around student student programs. But one of the things I do want people to be aware of is that I do understand the importance of the program and I do understand some of the limitations of the program as well where it pulls kids out from their um reading and their I think I'm not sure which is a reading >> reading. So that's it's uh let me finish. So I do I do think it is taken from some instructional time from the students. >> Okay. But I do know that we offer and I don't think it's for all students. Is that correct Dr. Maloney? That >> it is optional for students to um >> participate in this participate. >>
070All students are going through fifth grade music. Correct. >> Correct. And one of the things I want um our public to know too is that in 2018 when we passed our bond, one of the things that we did and we focused on was our music rooms and providing all kinds of instruments throughout our elementary school programs because I do agree that providing students with choice and instruments is important. Um in fourth grade, our students get recorders and they practice that all year. It's a first introduction to instruments, but we do have a variety of instruments for our students to work with, change, and um and they can do that through our curriculum and our music programs. And I know that um Karina Ormstrom does a really good job with our music programs. And I believe
071that we'll continue on to have our award-winning programs regardless if we have to make this difficult cut. I am confident that with some of the other changes that we'll continue to provide the services that we need to our students um throughout middle and high school with the with the transition coaches and provide those supports for our kids because I'm confident in our uh the restructuring and our principles, our building administrators are fantastic and we'll continue to do what's best for kids and the educational program. Please refrain from calling out I think Julie did a beautiful job uh sharing comments and kind of thoughts. So I actually don't have anything to add to what Julie has already stated. Thank you. Um, I want to mention in connection with this that uh uh CFO Jennifer Jacobson uh
072sent out an email to the budget advisory committee uh containing uh one of the things that they'd asked for at the meeting uh which was a longitudinal uh picture of uh the share of central office and other departments uh in budgets going back five years. I went and took that data and adjusted it for inflation. And uh what I've decided to do with that table is uh I basically placed it on a district drive. So if uh anyone asks for it, write to me directly and I'll send it to you. Uh what it shows is that uh Evergreen Central admin spending, which is people have always called for that to be as lean as possible, right? is already the lowest um of three comparison groups. Uh the district uh collection of 12 large districts and
073the statewide um picture of the percentage of money that goes to central office services as opposed to um services in the schools. Evergreen's uh budget for 2526 uh that's this year uh budgeted 3.9% of the total um of our budget towards central office uh services compared with a 4.7% average in large districts and a 5.3% average in all districts all 295. Um I think that larger number in all districts uh takes into account the fact that smaller districts have larger overhead percentages. Um when you adjust that for inflation, what you find uh is that we had uh in 21 and 22 an inflationadjusted amount of $933 per student going to central services. Today it's 842, which is a reduction in spending power for these services of 9.7%. So there's no doubt in my mind uh
074or my experience uh that the cuts we're facing and uh the proposal to reduce the educational program um I agree with those who say it's going to impact kids because it's going to impact kids. I was a fifth grade band student as were two of my siblings growing up and we all came through the music programs in secondary uh because of that introduction and because my parents are musical and wanted us to study music. All five of my children participated in fifth grade band and orchestra and uh they saw the benefits from that. So when I say that this is a heartache and when I say that I mourn it, I'm coming from a wellspring of personal and family experience on the matter. I wish we didn't have to do this. I'm persuaded that other
075options we could have considered are worse, but not because we've gone through a list of other options. uh but because I believe in and trust the people who lead the music programs in the district. Karen Ormson is um an astounding and competent music educator who has expressed confidence that we will be able to preserve overall the excellence of the music programs even in the face of this deeply unfortunate loss. Uh in terms of the central admin expenditures, what this story really tells is that this board and its superintendent for 5 years, longer really, have listened to the public's call to keep the administration uh at ASC lean. We uh pay a price for that but uh it is what the community has asked for and the numbers show that it's what the district has done.
076With respect to other budget categories, teaching adjusted for inflation is uh up in share of the budget by about 1%. in 2122 that would have been 58.1% of the general fund budget. Uh now it's 59.1. So then that takes into account uh the impacts due to enrollment loss and to inflation. teaching support. A lot more teaching support was um uh was budgeted in for this year and we're seeing that pair educator positions are being filled in greater percentage. Uh there are far fewer uh openings uh outstanding. I think 30 or so, isn't that right? Uh between 30 and 40 right now where in previous years it could have peaked to 120. Um just as a comparison, we've got a um a factor of four. So that budget share is about the same, maybe a one-third
077of a percent increase. In the meantime, the revenues that the district have seen since, and and this is where I have 8-year data, um that the real spending power of the district, uh given all of the money that goes into the general fund is down by almost 10%. So we're doing more men and we're doing more with less and that's an important reality to recognize. I am as confident as director Boangra uh because I've seen it in previous years that those who have uh had their positions eliminated will have the opportunities under the contract and uh according to our established policies and rules uh and their contracts to be offered positions that uh take advantage of their talents and permit them to continue uh helping students grow. I'm grateful for that. I'm not happy about
078this. Uh but I see the necessity of it. Are there any other uh comments or points of discussion? Yeah. Um you know, for three years we had very large cuts. Um I was only on the board for the last one um in my first year on the board. and we did a budget survey and we got nine over 900 responses uh three questions on there. There were 2,700 uh answers and in reviewing every one of them and you know rating them exactly what they were for, what they were against, it was real clear, you know, to know the community what they were thinking and I shared that and the top three concerns were fifth grade band, um elementary librarians and security. And you know I was hoping we could keep all three and you know
079tried to work out various scenarios where we could at least keep in some parts some of the some of them uh except for security. Security was non-negotiable. Um, as it ended up, we were able to add back some due to some additional funds from Olympia uh before the end of the session and fifth grade band was saved and as well as all 10 security positions. Uh, elementary librarians were not. Um, and I knew the community really I could have lived necessar I could have lived without the elementary librarians, but I knew the community could not. And I thought I had a reasonable solution, you know, with instructional coaches absorbing some of that cut and and the elementary librarians, but that wasn't offered. So when it came time to vote, I I voted no because that's
080I felt the community I had to represent the community more than myself, more than uh anyone else. Um this year, of course, last year we didn't have any, you know, sizable cuts and fifth grade band was again saved. Uh this year we've gotten over 50 emails to the board. uh representing some one email had represented 13 people that had 12 other people signed off on it. Another email just recently came in from um the share uh staff. I don't know how many people that represents, but just to say maybe five or six, you know, we've gotten over 50 emails representing about 70 people and going to look at my numbers here. Um about 50 of those represent people that were concerned about transition coaches and 17 people were um concerned about fifth grade band and
081most of the comments we've received in the last two board meetings were fifth grade band a couple of transition coaches. So obviously those were the two um items that are most concerning and I kind of knew that going in. Uh I was also afraid maybe the academic um or the language specialist might be a concern but I think because we're you know going to have an academic um specialist in or excuse me language specialist in every elementary school. Even though you could consider it a cut, it's also an adback. So, it um I was hoping that would be palatable to people and it was. Um but fifth grade band and transition coaches were the two items I was hoping to look at to try to save. And you know, originally I was hoping that 1.3
082million for uh security for 2026 since we're moving 2020 uh 627 uh security positions to come under the tech and security levy levy. I was hoping we could also apply that to um 2026. Apparently, we were already going down that route, but those funds couldn't really pay forward to our new budget year 2026 27 because as we saw earlier, um just, you know, a further loss in enrollment. You know, this year we're those funds are needed to even prevent us from going even further into our um reserves. Um I I threw out a lot of um things out there. I know I even tried to echo Mindy. She had come up with the well if we're can move security to the tech and security fund. Can we consider moving the transition coaches because they're you
083know kind of represent the whole student. They have you know the security of the student. Um I'm afraid that was not an option. and I knew it probably was a a stretch and but yeah it that didn't go anywhere. Um originally I was for 6 months ago came out and stated you know I'd like to see a well I didn't state it publicly but I in talking with another board member mentioned a salary freeze for non-bargaining admin and they agreed. So, and so for three board meetings, also being on the budget committee, um the two on twos, I I was, you know, mentioning it, pressing it, and eventually was told, well, if we do that, there are directors who if they don't get IPD, because the the people they're under are getting IPD, there are
084a few instances where the people they're that are under them will be making more than them. So, okay, I guess don't know if that could have been just okay, take those exceptions out, but um in any event, it was twofold. I was hoping a salary freeze on non-bargaining admin would help out our future negotiations coming up. So, but that probably off the table at this point. So, uh, what I had hoped was we'd be able to see options. You know, I want to know why this cut as opposed to maybe something else. And I was kind of coming up with my own. Okay, well, what about TOSAs? You know, can we look at them? And I guess we have 6.6 uh, TOSSA positions. Four or excuse me, 2.4 4 are funded by um grants that
085you know we couldn't touch those but then that would leave uh 4.2 TOSA positions and you know I tried that route. Um it's it would be nice. I I don't know if I'm going to be on the budget committee next year. Maybe not. I want to be so I'll find out. But it would be nice if the budget committee could and and the public could see, you know, okay, these are this is the 14 million we're cutting, but here's the other ones that we considered that did not make the cut. And yeah, you have, you know, there's expertise there as to why, but sometimes there is a blind spot and sometimes, you know, another person, you know, more eyes more, you know, and we want to understand why this cut is needed and not there,
086not here and not there, and let's discuss it, bring it, bring it totally transparent. Um, that would be my hope for next year. Um, I was hoping we could see another position cut from the administration office. It was three. Uh, I was told yes, three this year, but we cut I thought I originally heard 7.4 positions last year, but I'm pretty I'm thinking it's 4.4% and in total we're cutting 7.4 between last year and this year. Um, so and I understand yeah that you know I I still tried to push out there for another one more position out of the roughly 140. Um I'll finish soon here. It's just um the last thing I was trying to do was just come up with $225,000. I was hoping to try to save two transition coaches um
087for the high schools. I know there's four right now. it would, you know, it would at least, my concern there is twofold. Um, transition coaches, I think above as much as anyone in the school district actually have a opportunity to save funds because for every student that, you know, drops out, we're losing that funding. So, if you know, and that's, you know, 12 to 15,000 per student. Uh, so if you if a transition coach saves eight kids in a year from that, they're paying for their salary plus benefits and it's like a a win-win. Um, and I don't want to look at students with dollar signs saying, "Well, I want to, you know, but more so the reason for me to want to save transition coaches, at least a remnant, is and I didn't know
088this before coming on the board. I didn't think about this, but the worst part of being on a board, this board, is when we get an email from our superintendent letting us know that a student's taking their life. And as a few people who wrote in about transition coaches stated, you know, one had stated that they felt they had saved a student's life. And I'm not going to question that they didn't. They quite possibly did. And and in a school district our size, two or three students per year possibly can take their life. And I' I'd love to be able to say I helped at least keep a remnant for the transition coaches. So, I was really asking just the last few days, can we find $225,000 to save two transition coaches? And Phil, you
089know that out of a budget of $460 million, I felt, come on, impress me. We can find it. Let's do it. I know there's 230,000 bin uh for, you know, poverty funds. Whether or not the superintendent decides or excuse me, the principal decides to use that is another question. So really, that's probably not the answer or or the best answer. And so I'm I'm stuck at this point. So it's um sad that we're at this point, but that's where I'm at. Thanks >> to for another question for that. The 230,000 that is available at those schools will be used. Okay. And they're uh they're categorized funds, right? They're uh for >> I think it's lap funds. >> It's lap funds. >> Lap high poverty funds. So it's not just lap. So it's the funds are
090designated for um the schools with certain social economic demographics and that is there for that is there for the principal to decide how to utilize it. And uh currently um it is available for them to provide whether it's um hiring a certain type of position to um address the needs that they have in their particular school. >> I wonder if they could uh when we get to uh KPI reports um if they could be asked to talk about uh how they were using those funds um and how they were able to mitigate um the losses that we're anticipating here. I know I was in conversation with one uh secondary principal who had a very clear plan that included um working to keep the person who was occupying that position in place. There isn't a lot
091that anybody can promise from the board chair uh from from the the board desk about a particular job or a particular person because those uh duties are delegated to the principles and uh and to the superintendent. Um, but it was good to hear uh that principal's anticipation uh that they'd be able to keep that person uh at the school and still be uh having that person engage with kids the way that they had. So there is a lot of thought going into retaining the services under a different personnel structure. >> Correct. And that's why I said through through attrition, I'm hoping that we can retain >> majority of our staff. >> Yeah. And that's been the case every every year. Uh a lot of effort goes into making sure that that can happen. >> Can
092I just say one more thing in response to Gary's comments about the budget and the budget committee. Um I know that there was a lot of ideas and I wasn't part of the budget committee. Rob and Gary were that represented the board. But um one of the things is this budget is going to be a multi-year conversation where there's a plan in place for year two, year three. Um and I don't think that any of the ideas that were brought up by the budget committee are off the table. I think all things are being still being explored and some of those things may take more time which will go into the planning for year two and year three. Okay. Is there any further discussion uh before we decide to take a vote? Then you have
093before you resolution number 721 7121 uh our resolution for reduced educational program. Um and I'll go ahead and take a vote now. All those in favor of this resolution uh please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Nay. >> And my vote is I. The motion carries. The next item on our agenda is a proposal for action and this is uh our policy 1440 having to do with meeting minutes. Um 1440. Okay, thank you. Uh, and is this the clean version? Okay, so uh you should also have this on paper if you want to look at it on paper. Uh, and just by way of introduction here, this is uh a revision to a policy that was last updated in August of 2014. And what has happened to the rules regarding minutes is uh
094and and records from our meetings is that the law has changed um RCW 423035 subsection 2 requires an audio recording and requires that the district furnish that audio recording to uh anyone who asks. Um so it's been our practice for quite a while to make a recording of uh all the board meetings where we take final action. Uh and these changes are intended to bring it uh the policy into alignment with the law and uh and to align it with our current pro uh practice and that'll mean that it's legal once again. Um we discussed in in uh the workshop last Tuesday uh the text in red and I want to also draw your attention to something I don't think that we discussed but is also proposed in this document under availability and minutes which
095uh sets forth a date on which public notice of uh well the date on which public notice of the next regularly scheduled meeting is provided is when uh those minutes will be available for inspection by the public. Uh and that's before we approve them. So, I I think the typical practice has been to put it into uh our board meeting software and onto the website so that uh the public sees uh those minutes um in advance of the uh of the action that we take and uh have an opportunity to send in some comments um on that and any anything else in the meeting. Uh so those are the changes proposed uh for the policy and this is a first reading so I'd be uh able to take a motion to advance it to second
096reading after which we can have more discussion if desired. >> So moved. >> Sorry. >> Second. >> So moved. >> Dr. Groundwald has moved to advance uh board policy uh number 1440 as presented here to a second reading and approval and director Bokeenegra has seconded. Is there further discussion? >> Yeah. Um you know I've been vocal a few times about our written minutes how they're shrinking down as far as the board comments. Uh looking back years ago, it was always a paragraph or two for each um board member who spoke. And then when I got on the board, seemed to start whittling down um to really vague and and then a few months ago just nothing. I mean, it just says board comments. Um I know I've discussed it. I know I've been told, well,
097we're not required. We got to other school districts and entities are doing this and we're getting away from uh recording, you know, putting it into the minutes cuz if it's wrong, it'll be part of a could be part of an audit issue and um okay, those are um I still will always air on the side of transparency and and sometimes a person doesn't want to watch an entire twohour video, they want to just, you know, read that the minutes and say, "Oh, well, that's something that might interest me. I might want to catch that portion of the video." Um, so it really takes away, and I know it was interesting what Adam was speaking tonight about um disabilities and and how they're required. And um I don't know how that's going to fit into this
098or something about he said 31 days. And um in any event, I also have a concern um because it talks about u audio, but it doesn't say anything about video. And I know our last board meeting the um speakers were not um videoed. It was so um I'm told I think tonight it's being someone will have to we'll have to look tomorrow that they were okay. We were videoed. Okay. Um, but I just want to make sure that this wording where it just talks about audio recording, not video recording. Is that going to be used to down the road limit the video recording? So, um, >> didn't we have closed caption for a bit? Isn't still they close caption all of our recordings? I noticed that with the last meeting there was not a close
099caption transcript uh on the YouTube video, but uh >> so I I would ask that you look into that uh because previous board meetings did have the captioning available. >> It's never correct. >> I'd ask you not to call out. Um okay. I always thought it was pretty accurate because it always showed like every some sometimes it always didn't get the word right but because just the way it hears. >> Uh well with respect to the policy itself uh the policy uh revisions are intended to bring the policy uh 12 years forward uh and make them compatible with what the requirements of law are. uh the district has I think the board has always chosen to uh supply more than that when possible and technically possible. Uh and uh I do want to note that
100uh policies 1440 and 1430 are going to be scheduled for another workshop before we proceed. Uh so they're not uh part of this policy proposal. uh but they will be open for discussion and uh because it's in workshop it'll be open for public observation as well and we can continue the conversation about that. Um is there any further discussion on policy 1440? >> So you're saying 1440 we're going to be continuing to discuss it but we're doing a first and second reading. >> No, I was talking about 1430 uh which we're going to schedule for another workshop. Oh, I thought you said 1440 and 1430, >> you know. I think I did. I apologize for that. It's 1400 and 14:30 that are scheduled for the workshop. And 1440, uh, we're considering to advance to second
101reading today. So, there will be opportunities to continue the conversation uh before we decide to do anything about those two policies. >> Okay. Further discussion. >> So, does voting in favor mean it goes to a second reading? >> Means it goes to a second meeting. Yeah, it goes to a second reading. And so, all of our policy adoptions um are presented and considered twice. Uh and uh this will give the public uh ample time to supply written comment uh between now and that meeting. Um, >> and what would a no vote from a board member mean at this point? >> Well, if there are uh two no votes, then uh the policy would not be advanced to a second reading. >> Um, if there are a majority of board members uh voting to advance, then
102it will advance and uh be considered in uh in our April meeting. Any further public comment or not public comment uh sorry any any any further discussion motion >> well we motion in second then comes discussion then then I'll call the vote um all those in favor of the motion to advance uh this uh proposed board policy number 1440 to second reading um say I >> I >> Any opposed? >> Nay. >> My vote is I and the motion carries. The next item on our agenda isformational. Uh it is the financial statement uh from February 2026. Um, no action is required, but uh, this would be a moment to, uh, I guess discuss or ask questions if you have any. >> Hearing none, we'll move on to the next agenda item, uh, which is board
103comments. Are there any other comments to advance? >> Yeah, I want to thank all the speakers tonight. Um, and out of the what is it over 50 emails I've responded to everybody uh with the exception of those that emailed today. Um, so and and in one instance because legal advice was to not respond to a person. I did contact someone to give that person uh a message. Uh, so I I feel like I've done my duty to respond to everybody that's emailed. Um, and I appreciate everyone's comments. I appreciate the opportunity to share my concerns. I don't speak for the board and I try to put that at the beginning when I'm bringing up my own uh they sometimes ask sometimes they're asking me personally so I feel comfortable responding that way but when they're
104you know it's addressed to the board I should you know preface that you know I don't speak for the board but someone's got to respond and I really don't like just saying you know we received your email and so um I like to make it personal And and you know people want to know you know especially about the budget that we did ask some questions that we did you know try to you know communicate some other possibilities you know some other uh avenues to look at for savings. Um so I hopefully this next um year with the budget we're going to be looking at possible school closures. I know that's not a happy topic. Uh, also possibly repurposing parts of this building. Uh, so nothing should be off the table. So for uh, but thank
105you and um, and I will I guess for fourth uh, board meeting uh, ask for an investigation into the events of January 14th. Uh, thank you. >> Is is that uh >> just a reminder uh the school foundation gala um to raise money for our school resource centers is this Saturday night and I will be in attendance. >> Thank you for that reminder. Uh are there any other comments? Okay. I uh um want to thank everyone who uh presented a heartfelt case for um all the things that they've been talking about. Uh this is not easy and it's not a happy moment. Um, and I certainly feel it very deeply. And so, um, I'm hoping that we can continue to engage with one another, uh, and make decisions that are the best for kids coming
106up in the future. Appreciate that. Uh, and that's all I have. If there are no uh comments from the board uh then this meeting is adjourned. Thank you for coming.