001Good evening. Welcome to the regular board of directors meeting. It is October 14th, 5:30 p.m. Please join us for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Director Gron has our land acknowledgement. Evergreen Public Schools resides on the traditional lands of the Chinookin people 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 in and respect for all indigenous students, families, and staff in our community. Thank you. The first item on our agenda is to adopt the agenda. Is there
002a motion? >> I move to adopt tonight's agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Director Boengra moves to adopt the agenda as presented. Seconded by Director Perkins. All in favor? >> I. >> Opposed? >> So moved. The next item on our agenda is to introduce everyone to our brand new student representatives. We're very excited to have Dr. Dr. Maloney issue the oath of office to our stu two student board reps [Music] by phrase and Lauri is going to follow after me. All right. >> I state your name. I, Lorelli Medina, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution >> and laws of the United States >> and the Constitution laws of the state of Washington >> and the Constitution laws of the state of Washington >> and will >> to the best of
003my judgment >> skill >> and ability >> honestly faithfully >> diligently and impartially performed >> the duties of the office >> of the Evergreen School District student representative >> of the Evergreen >> Evergreen School District >> of the Evergreen School District student representatives >> to the board of directors >> and and for Clark County >> Washington as such duties >> Washington and such duties >> are prescribed by policy. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. Okay. And then I'm going to have you go shake hands. I'm going to have her come by and shake hands with each board director. So, Daisy. >> Okay, raise your right hand. Okay. >> I state your name. I, Daisy Conway, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution >> and laws of the United States >> and the
004Constitution and laws >> of the state of Washington >> and will to the best of my judgment >> skill and ability >> honestly faithfully >> diligently and impartially perform perform >> the duties of the office >> of the Evergreen School District >> student representatives >> to the board of directors >> in and for Clark County >> in and for clar county >> Washington >> as such duties are prescribed by policy >> congratulations [Applause] I'm gonna have you. >> Daisy's going to come shake your hands. Now we would like for um Suzanne and Arnoral to come up one by one to introduce themselves to the board. Suzanne. >> Hi everyone. My name is Suzanne Zoo. I am a current senior at Union High School. I've done some equity work in the past, but it's just been
005really great being able to serve as the SAC president now, and I'm just really excited to connect the student voices with all of you guys and just help you guys out. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> Good afternoon everyone. My name is Arno Joseph Junioro. I am the safe leison on for Evergreen public school district and I hope to be able to bring all students voices of Evergreen public school district and concerns to the school board. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Daisy and Larlli, would you mind introducing yourselves? Good afternoon everybody. My name is Laurel Medina Gardinas. I am a senior at Heritage High School. I will be serving as a student board representative and I'm as well as the ASB president at Heritage. I'm super excited to serve and to represent our student body
006as a bilingual student. Thank you. Hi guys, my name is Daisy and I'm currently a junior at Mountain View High School. Um, I'm going to be serving as the junior student representative for this year and I'm really excited about connecting um to all the students in the district whether across all grades and all ethnicities and I'm excited to connect them to the school board. >> Thank you. We will have more times with the student more discussion with the students later during our workshop. All right. The next item on our agenda is public comment. Any community member wishing to address the board may do so during the designated time on the agenda for public comments. Comments are to be directed to the board of directors as a whole and may not be addressed to any individual
007member of the board, the administrative staff, or the audience. Although the board will not engage in dialogue, the board chair may ask a speaker clarifying question or follow up at a later time on an issue raised during public comment. First person up is Janelle Griffith. >> Good evening. >> Hi, good evening. Thank you. So, my name is Janelle Griffith and this is my 15th year in the district. Um, I'm not one to go out and publicly speak and do this. Um, I'm very vocal with those around me, but not when I have to stand up. But, um, I felt um, a lot of I've been reflecting a lot after the strike and how I feel that our classified staff was treated. So, I felt like I wanted to um, approach that. So, I wanted to
008acknowledge that today is the 14th of October. This brought a small re measure of relief to our classified staff, many who have received a partial paycheck. While it's far from what they deserve, it's a reminder of the value of their work and the hardships they've endured in recent weeks. As I reflect on the events of the strike and the actions taken against our union, I have to be honest, it was heartbreaking. It was hard to watch dedicated educators, support staff, some who have committed decades to this district, be met with what felt like punishment for standing up for their rights. Instead of the support, the district tried to portray us in a negative way. And now walking through our schools, you will see this growth mindset signage that has been put up across our campuses.
009The kind of decorative messaging, especially during a time of budget constraints, feels wasteful and out of touch. It's hard to see that money go towards wall quotes and posters when the people doing the heavy lifting, supporting students day in and day out, are underpaid and very undervalued. Even more troubling is the tone behind some of those messages. The kinder than necessary narrative that's being pushed, especially feels hollow when we have staff that have just gone through the pain of having their paychecks withheld. Checks that they depend on to survive. I ask, was that kinder than necessary to drag us back to work through an injunction? I know that some of you have volunteered in the classrooms, and that's heartbreaking when you guys saw daytoday what we did. Was it kind to offer a raise that
010frankly feels like a slap in the face? We don't need slogans on the walls to teach us about resilience, growth, or kindness. We live those values every single day in the classrooms, in the cafeteria, or the playground. What we need is respect. What we need is to be heard, supported, and treated like the essential workers we are. We deserve better. Our students deserve better. and this district needs to do better. >> Thank you. Next speaker is Jacob Smith. >> All righty. Evening, uh, board of directors and, um, superintendent. Uh, my name is Jacob Smith and I'm actually a candidate on this year's ballot. Um, so I wrote, "What is equity?" Equity is my friend Shawn who I did FBA with at Heritage and my first Asian friend at Silverstar being allowed to do FBA alongside
011me. In fact, I reconnected with Shawn recently and happy that he and his wife and his son got to go to the Oregon coast. Equity is Shawn partaking in popcorn movies during popcorn Fridays where we would watch kids play on the playground or backs leaning against the wall facing the playground at Silverstar because I had no friends until third grade. Equity is ensuring our PSC friends are paid on time. I find it interesting we say equity yet EAA, which also wasn't in school until September 12th, their pay is unscathed. Equity is looking at why our director for student equity and family engagement is leaving our district and at least giving an intermoint for the position. I will actually present the argument that not filling the position, even on an on-term basis, is more detrimental to
012members of our community who might be persons of color. I first advocated when I first came to this board that our boys need positive male role models. But I'll present an argument tonight which I believe both can be true. People of color need people of color who are positive role models. We are straying down Clark College's path where women of color were leaving Clark College between 2017 and 2018. I urge our board to look into why we've had three women of color leave our district. And I also urge they engage in dialogue with Clark Collegeg's board of trustees. A lot of folks will dismiss me for being a white male and a candidate for school board talking about equity. I've actually worked with folks who don't look like me. At the forum on Friday, one
013of the candidates said my supervisor, my first supervisor was a woman and the adviser who helped me with the thesis was born in the Philippines. I'm Caucasian. He said I learned a lot from them. I agree with this candidate that we can learn from people who don't look like us. In fact, when I worked with Armen and or Church and Dwight, my co-orker Fod was from the Gambia and he helped me wrote a paper at Eastern Washington about the Gambia. My supervisor Bruce was a white male born after World War II. Bruce used the three C's which are care, community, and connection. He treated all of his workers equally and my shift Lee Mark Bark even said Bruce is the fairest person I've ever worked with. I won't bring the three Ps in discussion since
014I feel it's gone unheated in my viewpoint. We're shifting to the three C's which are care, community, and connection. How is denying PSC a donation box follow the 3C's? I even sold some of my games thinking I would get PSC a Winkco gift card. How is pushing payback equity in the 3C's? Our PSC union is 90% women yet they're bearing the brunt of this mayhem. I had a par going through Silver Star and I have the receipts to prove it. Let's prove it. I had a grandma who was a single mother raising four kids by herself with the help of Aster Davis. My mom when I was 17 and a senior at Heritage became a single mom raising three teenagers by herself and my sister is raising two kids by herself and I know what
015it's like to ask for help. In closing, the pen is mightier than the sword. Think about that when ballots come out. Thank you. [Applause] The next speaker is Camille Lman. Okay, the next speaker is Jimmy Singleton. Well, hello. Good evening. Um, I first just want to say I'm speaking tonight both as a departing district leader and as someone who deeply believes in Evergreen's commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice. And because I live to be an anti-racist, our social political expression guidance and strategic plan affirm that EPS is an anti-racist district, one that creates conditions for empowerment and prohibits systems or actions that perpetuate inequity. Those are powerful commitments, but our policies only hold meaning when they are reflected in our daily decisions, especially in how we value and compensate the people who make equity real
016across our schools. Tonight on October 14th, I want to lift up our bilingual family liaison and to speak truth to power and reenter our attention at a time when others have chosen to focus elsewhere in remembrance. In this moment when public discourse and election decisions can amplify diversive rhetoric that fuel xenophobia, racism, and marginalization, it's more important than ever that we stay rooted in the vision that every member in Evergreen Public Schools is welcome, included, and empowered, working together for student success. As educators, we're called to model what it means to be kinder than necessary, to listen deeply, to create spaces where students can speak their truth, where students and their families from historically marginalized groups perceive that their environment was not built with them in mind. They experienced what scholars call belonging uncertainty. Our
017responsibility through action, not just words, is to remind them that Evergreen was built for them, too. Institutional racism isn't always loud. It often shows up quietly when policies and processes consistently favor the majority, even unintentionally. When the voices of multilingual staff are delayed or dismissed, it's singles whose labor and language we truly value. I come tonight in advocacy just as our bilingual family liaison spend every day in theirs. They work tirelessly to support families who need language access to fully engage in the children's education. They conduct registration for hundreds of families because our Skyward system does not have access for multilingual families. They are called to each of our 38 schools, just three of them, to support hundreds of families. They've followed every process available to address an outdated classification that no longer reflects the
018scope of work that they currently provide for our district. If we are truly committed to equity and language access, this has to be addressed. And despite their persistence, the district's engagement, no structural change has happened. It is because of the leadership like this that I have chosen to resign. It's essential that we consider how contributions like theirs are overshadowed by broader priorities. Rather than filling my position, I urged the district to redirect the resources from my salary to address the compensation for our bilingual liaison. I shared this in my resignation letter. Doing so would move us closer to the symbolic equity that we state and practicing it in the way that we support certain people who support marginalized communities. I hope that we can honor policy, repair harm, and make sure that we demonstrate that
019Evergreen is actually living into the socopolitical stance that we say we believe. It's been an honor to serve you as your director of equity for the past four years. Thank you. And those are my final words to you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Camille Lumen. Hi, thanks for letting me still speak. I was getting kiddos to baseball practice. Uh my name is Camille and I'd like to address the ongoing lack of effective transparent communication from the district, a pattern that continues to erode trust and threaten the safety uh the sense of safety that students, staff, and families deserve. As a member of the community engagement board, I've heard directly from students who do not feel safe at school and how this is a contributing factor to their attendance issues. It is well understood
020that safety is foundational to belonging and engagement, which is also foundational to the district's own strategic plan. But you cannot feel like you belong if you do not feel safe. Yet, after repeated incidents over the years, staff and families are too often left in the dark or given conflicting information. And in that silence, rumors and confusion fill the void, spreading unnecessary panic across the community. After expressing my concerns to the superintendent after the most recent incident at Evergreen High School a few weeks ago, I received an email from the director of safety and security stating that the goal is to inform staff and families as quickly and as accurately as possible. But goals don't actually mean anything without action. These communication failures also extend far beyond emergencies. During the recent strike, families repeatedly received misleading
021information, proving this issue is systemic. So, I've already written to the board asking for clarity on specific yet very important questions that the public has a right to be aware of regarding safety and communication protocols, but I've not heard back from anyone. So, I'll ask here and cross my fingers for a response. What is the current protocol for releasing emergent information to principles and staff? Who is responsible for managing and distributing accurate information during these incidents? And if a process does exist, why is it not being followed? During the board retreat workshop in July, nearly an hour was spent just discussing how to respond to emails. Uh and that conversation ended with the superintendent stating, and I quote, "There may be times too that it may be completely appropriate to not even respond." While unfortunately
022unsurprising, how can that possibly align with the commitment to community and family engagement, an entire pillar of the district's own strategic plan? No one's asking for perfection, but expecting transparency, accountability, and genuine communication should never vilify those who advocate for it. When safety incidents occur, it must be more than a goal to share information quickly. There should be specific written protocols and a com and a commitment to share information accurately and transparently. The board has been given opportunity after opportunity to rebuild trust with little to no follow-through. Despite the amazing workshops that the district has paid for the board to attend, the board must start with consistent and authentic communication in order to engage the stakeholders that deserve restorative and intentional action, especially after the destruction of trust that the board and district leadership participated
023in directly during the strike. So, not just talking about listening or talking about action or talking about restorative conversations, but actually doing it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Rebecca Goldman. Good evening. >> Good evening. Um, my name is Rebecca Goldman. I'm a mom of two kids, including one preschooler in the district. Um, tonight I'm here to talk to you about a scholar from the 12th century. Um, I promise by the end of my three minutes, you'll understand why. So, my monities, he was born about 900 years ago and served as the personal physician to Saladin, the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria. Um today he's mostly known for his writings on philosophy and Jewish law. Not his most famous work, but one of his writings that I really appreciate and resonate
024with is his levels of charity. Mymonities believed that certain types of giving were more virtuous than others. And he spelled out eight levels of charitable giving. So all the way at the very bottom is giving grudgingly. You achieve higher levels by giving cheerfully, giving without being asked, giving anonymously. Pretty high up at level two is coordinating communal giving. So, the giver and the recipient are both anonymous to each other. Uh, I'm working on that right now, coordinating with some other parents to collect money to give grocery gift cards to PSSE members. Many, many employees and community members before me have come up to this podium and spoken about how many Evergreen employees are already living paycheck to paycheck. So, when a paycheck gets delayed, that's an emergency. Uh, we're doing what we can. Come find
025me after the meeting if you're feeling generous. But no matter how much money we raise, how many people we help, my monities would say we're still at level two. Now, I'm proud of our little last minute fundraiser. I love that our district uh hosts food pantries for students and their families. And if employees need food, I know it doesn't say so on the flyers, but I have it on good authority that y'all are welcome, too. Um I appreciate how generous our parent volunteers are with their time and their money. Uh plenty of underpaid employees are also contributing their time and money to keep things running. Um, that's a its own public comment for another evening. Um, again, good job y'all. But my monity says we're still only at level two. The real brilliance of the
026levels of charity is that level one isn't actually charity at all. It's helping someone before they're in a position to need charity. So that could be a gift, a loan, helping someone find a job or start a business, otherwise become financially independent. If, for example, you are one of the largest employers in your city, it could be making sure all employees earn a living wage and receive regular paychecks, so they don't need charity to pay their bills on time. Our community's collective generosity and support is worth celebrating, but how amazing would it be if employees didn't have to rely on charity in the first place? Again, not a new idea. It was around around 900 years ago. Thank you, my monities. Thank you all for listening. >> Thank you. And that's the end of public
027comment for tonight. The next item on our agenda is our board consent agenda. Is there a motion? >> I move adoption of the board's consent agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Who seconded? >> Either. >> Director Perkins moves that we adopt our board consent agenda as presented, seconded by Director Groalt. All in favor? >> I opposed. So moved. The next item on our agenda is our superintendent consent agenda. Is there a motion? >> I move to approve tonight's superintendent consent agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Oh, sorry, Gary. >> Is that Director Wilson? >> Director Gro moves that we approve our superintendent consent agenda as presented, seconded by Director Wilson. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. So moved. The next item on our agenda is our superintendent report. Director Dr. Maloney. >> Good evening,
028President Weatherspoon and board of directors. This evening, I I'm going to start with one recognition followed by five topics I'd like to share with you. First of all, for recognition, you may have seen some social media posts this month from our communications department recognizing our great principles here in Evergreen Public Schools. It is National Principal Month if you didn't know. Principles set the academic tone for their schools and it is their vision, dedication, and determination that provide the mobilizing force for achieving student success within their school walls. Each October, we take time to honor our principles for their tireless efforts in pursuit of creating belonging for each and success for all. I want to make sure we say thank you to each and every one of our principles. their work, their dedication, their care, their
029heart is noticed and appreciated. So, moving on to the five topics, as I've shared in the past, I will note which operational expectation policy that's been set by the board relates to each of the topics that I address tonight. And this is a continued format for my superintendent reports. So, under operational expectation zero um titled equity, this is about affirmative action report. So hiring season is mostly over right now and I'd like to provide you with an update regarding our fir affirmative action. So teaching learning and equity department leaders are collaborating with human resources leaders around our newly revised as of last spring affirmative action plan. The affirmative action review committee will commence next month in November to advance, monitor, and maintain our efforts to create a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities
030that we serve. I've asked for a report to be provided at an upcoming meeting regarding our actions and progress on this um on our affirmative action for OE5 which is financial planning. I'd like to talk share a little bit about our enrollment right now. Our enrollment came in almost exactly as we projected and that is absolutely amazing to try to do that with projecting around 21,000 plus students, right? um and taking into account birth rates and demographics and people moving in and out and transfers and um all sorts of other uh reasons that a person may choose to be in the district or um leave the district. So, this is a testament to the intense work um that the team does that goes into trying to accurately predict that enrollment. Um, I do want to
031note that our incoming kindergarten class is smaller than anticipated though by 100 students and that's pretty significant. And our outgoing senior class is sitting right now at about 1615. Okay. So when you have kindergarten students coming in um 100 less than predicted they're around um 1100 if I remember correctly. I should have the right number here but I don't. Um so that's a difference right and so we're going to see that wave come through our school system. Okay. So, we will be seeing that secondary enrollment drop over the next years as grade levels with that small enrollment move up through our system. And I mention this because enrollment drives our budget planning. And so, that's really important that we keep that in mind. And so, I will be informing the board and the team will
032be working really hard to make sure that we have information for the board um around this topic as we watch and um predict what's happening. Okay. Um I also was on a webinar today um with the state at the state level regarding um births um overall and um the uh the in the enrollment of kindergarters across the state and because of the low lower birth rates um we have in the last um few years um the last I think it was like six years remember right we've dropped around 6,000 students um in the five in the age five range so it's been pretty significant in the birth rate of of students and that's reflected in our 5-year-old kindergarten um entrance. Okay. Under um OE3 which is community stakeholder and relationships and OEE0 which is equity.
033I'm going to talk a little bit about our culturally responsive leaders gathering we had the other night. So last week um we had our first culturally responsive uh leader gathering for the school year. It was previously called last year the BIPO community leaders gathering but the name u needed to change because it included other groups within our community, other organizations that served our community. Um and so that's why the name has been changed. These are community leaders that we are bringing together to um that represent um the different parts of our community and the diversity of our community. So um it is my goal in these gatherings that they're meaningful, they're inclusive, and that all voices have a chance to be heard. They're designed as working sessions with small table discussions, intentional relationship building, and
034a clear focus on co-creating solutions that serve our students. This format provides us a space to work together to reflect honestly identify gaps, opportunities and ideas for deeper partnership and understanding. The survey results, the preliminary survey results we just received and the notes taken from the meeting do reaffirm the accomplish accomplishment of the school. So this is a format we're going to move forward with um with continued input from the group. The topics we focused on um there was four of them at this first meeting. Uh we had discussions and rich dialogue around uh supporting families facing homelessness and insecurity, post-secondary access, immigration and family support. And the fourth one was around belonging and community partnerships. So lots of great information there. Gathered lots of deep discussions and networking and um beginnings of partnerships or
035maintaining and growing of partnerships. So this will be taken back. Um we had table hosts uh that were made up. There was two table hosts per table made up of administrators from the superintendent leadership team and also from district staff. And so we will be meeting to review, reflect, and um uh move forward with some of the recommendations um and keep the other ones in in mind as we move forward um to make our district better. So I'd like to publicly say thank you to those community leaders um of organizations within our EPS community who attended and contributed to this conversation. And again, we will be hosting these quarterly throughout the year. Under OE10, which is safe, supportive learning environment, and OE9, which is communicating with the public, I want to talk about mental health
036supports. On October 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. here at the district office, we will begin a series of community learning sessions. The first session is focused on suicide awareness, and parents, caregivers, community members, and students in grades 6 through 12 are all welcome. interpreters and child care is provided. There's a QR code request process that's been sent out on the flyers and communications that have gone out. Social emotional learning coordinator Casey Lions and her team in our student equity and family engagement department are planning and leading this series of mental health support and includes seven different um learning sessions. So the first one I just talked about was suicide awareness coming up October 27th. We have becoming aware of self and others, stress management, the truth about substance use and how to prevent it,
037healthy relationships, online safety, and prevention through connection, healthy activities. So, all of these are going to be offered. Um they are um funded through our drug-free communities grant. So, we're able to do that with this um with those funds from the grant. So they will um op they will be offered all the way through May and that information is available. So under OE1 instructional program I want to talk a little bit more about instructional leadership. So this morning I attended the first leadership gathering of the school year and the focus is on establishing professional learning communities where educators align around grade level expectations and commit to equitable rigorous instruction. We use student data to identify needs, refine teaching practices, and ensure access to highquality instruction, especially for students from historically marginalized groups. This is a
038time for instructional leaders. This is building leaders, instructional coaches, um language um uh staff ac across the district and from each of the buildings to come together to learn together, align their practices, and help guide actions directly related to their school improvement goals in our district improvement plan to increase obviously student achievement. Later this fall, you will hear more about the work and progress we're making with the professional learning communities as a follow-up. Today you will hear a report on our district improvement plan and at the next meeting in a couple of weeks you will be provided with the annual SBA data review and school improvement plan trends. I'd like to thank you and this concludes my superintendent report for the evening. >> Thank you. >> Any questions? >> Could you repeat the fourth one
039uh from the cultural responsive session? The fourth topic, >> uh, the fourth, the last topic I said was, um, oops, I just thought that belonging and community partnerships. There you go. Uh, next item on our agenda is our teaching and learning and equity update. Dr. Fox, good evening. >> Good evening. I think I'll need a password or someone with a password. >> Sorry. Okay, visual is coming. Good evening, President Weatherspoon, members of the board. For this evening's teaching, learning, and equity update, I have three topics. Dr. Matt Bennett, senior director of special services, will provide a presentation on inclusive practices, followed by Dr. Heather Fowler, executive director of programs and school performance, who will share with you our district improvement plan. But first, I'd like to keep you updated on the transition plan in the
040student equity and family engagement department. The recent resignation of the student equity and family engagement director occurred at a point in the year that did not allow for the type of comprehensive search this critical leadership role requires. Administrative contracts typically begin on July 1st and leadership positions such as this one are generally posted in late winter or early spring to allow for a thorough search and transition process. In addition, we anticipate the management review of teaching learning and equity which will be conducted by WASA may further inform decisionmaking. So to ensure community continuity of services and maintain momentum in the student equity and family engagement department, we posted an equity specialist position. This role will provide immediate support across all 38 schools in maintaining momentum around student equity and family engagement initiatives. Over 20, actually
04125 applicants um applied and their files were screened and interviews for this position have been scheduled for later this month. This interim measure will sustain essential initiatives while positioning the department for long-term success. For the remaining nine months of this school year, Dr. Heather Fowler will supervise the 12 staff members serving in the student equity and family engagement department. This critical work includes family and community resource centers, unaccompanied youth, McKin Vento, foster and heart programs, language services, family leaison, and the work of the coalition coordinator, equitytosa, and equity specialist. I would like to name and thank each of these hardworking staff members who support staff in our schools and help keep student equity and family engagement centered in our work on a daily basis. They are Melanie, Matt, Nathan, Mac, Trisha, Mariano, Yolena, Adriana, Kelly,
042Shannon. Thank you to these people for keeping this important work moving forward. As you know, I like to schedule our TLE update topics in advance and have been looking forward to your January meeting when we'll hear an update on work done through the McKenna Vento Act and a report on refugee tutoring through our family and community resource centers we call FCRC's. And while I wanted this update to be brief, I I have to at least mention some more of the activities this department has planned and activities which will continue which are including the the upcoming student leadership conference, newcomer and family supports, family workshops on cultural awareness and district navigation, pantry donation management and communications. s student advisory programs and the eight schools who are piloting the family engagement framework and toolkits that were developed
043last year. It's a busy time in our schools and in TLE and I hope that with this update you can see that even in this time of transition we remain deeply committed to advancing equity and inclusion throughout Evergreen. For the last several years, EPS has been on a journey redesigning our model for serving students who require individualized education plans or IEPs. We have moved from a pullout model in which students are separated from their peers, often in schools outside of their neighborhood, to an inclusive model, which means all students, regardless of their ability, learn together in general education classrooms with the supports and services they need to succeed. This evening, Dr. Bennett, senior director for special services, will help us better understand the ways students are learning and the ways teachers and staff are coming
044together to ensure all students are making growth. Matt, >> good evening, Dr. Bennett. >> Good evening. Tonight, I want to share why inclusive practices are central to Evergreen's vision of how we're putting them into and how we're putting them into action and what this means for students, families, and our community. Our guiding belief is simple. Every student belongs, learns, and thrives together. >> Space bar inclusive education isn't optional. It's rooted in civil rights law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEIDA, free and appropriate public education, FAPE, and the least restrictive environment, LRE. But beyond compliance, it's an equity imperative, dismantling abbleism, discrimination or prejudice against people with disabilities, and ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed. Research shows students do better academically and socially when learning together. And for our community, inclusion means belonging
045and connection for every child. Our commitment. As a district, we've made key commitments. Every student is first and foremost a general education student. Inclusion is a right, not something to be earned. Collaboration amongst educators is essential and we hold high expectations for all students, no exceptions. To make this clear, inclusion is about designing for student variability using universal design for learning, UDL, and ensuring collaboration. It's about full participation. Inclusion is not about a student earning their way in. It's not just sitting in the same room, and it's not one-sizefits-all instruction. Our journey reflects a shift in mindset and practice. We're moving from a model of pullout services and compliance-driven paperwork to collaborative teaching, strength-based goals, and lessons designed from the start to reach every learner. This is a cultural shift in how we think about
046education. We've organized this work into a living framework with six core components. Equity as the foundation, inclusive instructional design through UDL, collaboration and shared ownership, amplifying student voice, using data for reflection, and building strong family partnerships. These components work together. They're not separate initiatives, but one system of support. Inclusion starts with equity. That means we don't ignore systemic barriers like abbleism, racism, or bias. We name them. We address them. Our professional development now integrates anti-abbleism and culturally responsive practices. And our classroom walkthrough tools specifically look for equity indicators. This is about embedding equity into daily practice. What does this look like in our schools? At the secondary level, students lead parts of their individualized education program, IEP meetings. Teachers co-plan lessons using using UDL strategies. Families are engaged as true partners through culturally responsive and
047multilingual communication. And across classrooms, goals are written with strength-based inclusive lens. Inclusive systems amplify voices. Students get to set goals, share perspectives, and take ownership of their learning. Families are not just invited in. They're helping shape the very framework that guides us. True inclusion is not just being present. It's being engaged, valued, and heard. We know words aren't enough. That's why we use data to monitor progress, reviewing placement outcomes, attendance, and growth. Our multi-tered systems of support, MTSS, and building teams regularly analyze these metrics, looking for barriers to access and opportunities to improve. Inclusion is about continuous reflection and adjustment. This work belongs to everyone. Teachers design instruction with UDL from the start. Leaders build collaborative systems and protect time for co-planning. Families partner in setting goals and problem solving. And our community supports a
048culture where every student belongs. Shared ownership is the only way this works. I want to close by underscoring this. Inclusive education is not a checklist. It's a mindset, a leadership stance, and a system of supports. At Evergreen, we believe in every student's right to belong, learn, and thrive together. Thank you for your support in ensuring we pri prioritize inclusion as a value and a practice. Thank you. >> Thank you. Does anyone have any questions? >> Well, I I know um Dr. Fox mentioned um the equity specialist position, and I know Dr. Singleton when she was uh speaking earlier uh she mentioned about her salary going towards um the three bilingual family uh liaison. Um I'm not sure that would be the wisest decision, but maybe if there's a difference between um where Dr. Singleton salary
049was in the new entry or equity specialist position. Maybe we could consider looking at that and you know seeing if there might be a little bit of funds there to channel down to the three bilingual family liaison. So I'll just throw that out there. But >> appreciate the comment. >> Yeah. But >> we still have one more presentation on our district improvement plan and Dr. Fowler is going to provide that now. Good evening, President Weatherspoon, board of directors, and student board representatives. Welcome. >> Evening. The work we do each year is guided by our district improvement plan, which is informed by the strategic plan goal areas and provides a consistent framework for our focus and priorities. By aligning our efforts to the plan, we can build on the progress we've made in previous years while
050keeping attention on areas that need the most attention. This continuity allows us to deepen strategies, strengthen practices, and sustain improvements over time, ensuring every action is purposeful and connected to our long-term goals for student achievement, belonging, and equity. There we go. Eliminating gaps isn't something that happens just once. It's ongoing work that we're committed to across the district. Central to this work is using data to guide decisions at every level, classroom, school, and district, so that we can identify where opportunity gaps exist, especially for students who have been historically underserved, including students of color, English language learners, students receive special education services, and those experiencing poverty. This year, we are continuing to focus on three main areas. First, we're working to build a stronger culture of safety and belonging. We know students can't learn if
051they don't feel connected, cared for, and safe at school. Our goal is to reduce chronic absenteeism by 5% from 42 to 37%. And to see a 10% increase in student belonging and engagement overall. We are also continuing to focus on increasing participation in the youth truth survey so that more students and families voices can help guide our decisions. Second, we're continuing our work to support growth and mastery of grade level standards. Between spring of 2025 and spring 2026, we aim for a 5% increase in students meeting or exceeding standards in math and English language arts. We'll continue strengthening our professional learning communities so teachers may collaborate, analyze data, and plan instruction together. We're also maintaining our focus on a strong equity-based multi-tered systems of supports to make sure every student receives timely targeted support. Third,
052we're continuing to build a strong foundation for success for our multilingual learners. By June 2026, we aim to increase the percentage of students making expected or exceeding growth on the WEDA access assessment by 7%, moving from 32% to 39%. This reflects our ongoing commitment to making sure our multilingual learners have the support they need to access grade level learning and succeed academically. Uh I think before the meeting started tonight, Lori gave each of you an a bridged version of the district improvement plan that has the goals in depth. Um that is just a small part of the what is about a 32page document. So we can also share that if you have interest. So, this is the work we are continuing building on the progress we've made and it's already underway in our schools, which
053you'll hear about in more detail at your next meeting when Karen Fox, our director of school improvement accountability, will share trends that are coming through our school improvement plans that are based on our district improvement plan. Thank you. >> You Thank you. Anyone have questions? >> I do have a question and it's um maybe for Dr. Fox because it's on the equity part, but or maybe for Dr. Fowler, she's going to be supervising >> the doctors department. So, uh, you mentioned 12 employees and I'm actually really glad that we got this information tonight because there's been some questions about our equity work recently with Dr. Singleton um, leaving the district and just making sure that we are still doing what we set out to do all those years ago. And I know that when the
054equity department was formed, I think it was in 2000, there was or 2020, excuse me, there was um eight to start with and then maybe um and the director. So it sounded like the number was 12, but I do believe that we added Melanie's position and the language liaison to that group, which would do the math and say now there's 12, right? But the FCRC's are separate from that group. Correct. They're not included in that 12. I just want to make sure >> correct are people who the are >> the coordinators of the school. >> They are not included in that number of No. >> And who I guess who supervises that group? Is it still Melanie? Is it okay? >> Yes, Melanie does supervise our FCRC's. >> Okay. So, basically what I guess the
055is we're still at the same number that we had in 2020 when the equity department was formed. it just has taken a little bit different form with the um employer responsibilities. I guess that's my question. I would say there is some shifting of responsibilities through reorganization and budget reductions. And that's one of the reasons we're adding another specialist in order to get into schools more so that we can be serving students directly, elevating student voice so that we can be coaching and working with teachers on culturally responsive practices and working with our building principles on our family engagement pillar and the strategies that will be coming out of the work that uh Dr. Singleton did with our families. We actually met today and our meeting tomorrow to go over those plans and that toolkit. So
056that work will be pushed into schools more so that we're serving our families and our students more directly. >> Excellent. And then I'm is that new position then going to help with our student leaders because Dr. Singleton was always a part of >> right >> engagement with the students. >> So what we have is we're going to be working with Dr. Ye still who we have contracted with to help. I will be also supporting. And then we have three student um three interns who uh we have one from each grade level or elementary, middle, and high that will also be working with them. So that we're extending that scope out of just the high school into the middle school and elementary schools. One of the things we talked about when we met was if we
057wait till high school to tell students they have a voice and we don't teach them to use that voice starting young then we've really missed out on opportunities to help inform the work that we do by listening to every student and so that is one of the things we're we're widening that scope. So that's really exciting work that we will be taking on. >> That is exciting to hear. Thank you. >> Yeah, you're welcome. Anything else? Um, one of the um, bullet points is increasing the youth truth participation by 5%. So is is that a not required from students to >> No, we don't require students to take surveys. They are optional. We obviously encourage them to. Same with families. We want our families to be more involved in that. When we first started youth
058truth, we were really involved in in pushing it out and working on that response rate. that trickled off a little bit and we need to get back there so that we can have student and family voice through that youth truth survey and so we're working to go back to that heavy communication to increase those participation rates. Yeah, I know. Um, last year um I believe we kind of have extra questions that were are not on the basic package for youth youth group >> youth truth, excuse me. And um I know there was a concern from a parent and a teacher and just didn't know if maybe if we just asked the basic questions if that would maybe increase the participation. It depends what the goal is. So >> in my experience with the youth truth
059survey and having supervised the department for several years is we have very few complaints about the additional questions and most families and students want to be able to provide that information. And so in our experience that has not actually lowered our response rates from what I can say. >> Not measurably anyway. Yeah. >> Yeah. A few. Yeah. I mean, I think I've had two or three phone calls in five years. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Coming uh coming back to the uh district improvement plan a little bit, how did you arrive at 5% and 5% and 7%. What processes involved in? >> Yes. So, we had higher percentages in the last few years and what we were finding is we weren't reaching those percentages. we were making very incremental gains. And what we did is we've
060lowered their percentage because one of the things that we don't want to do is create a feeling of hopelessness in schools that we can't get to that you'll remember the pencils and the 13%. And those are great things and they are really like exciting things to talk about and do and to make that happen is a heavy lift. And so what we talked about as a TLE group when we look at our data, what is a reasonable percentage that we can have like hopeful attainment toward but not such that it becomes unattainable and then it feels like we're spinning our wheels. And so that's where we came to those percentages. >> And uh which systems are you using to measure the improvement? Um is it the uh gosh what's it called? um is it the
061smarter balanced results or is something else? >> So our ultimate so the the final data for our data dashboard is our smarter balance results that is the measure of standards and the common core standards that we are wanting our students to be able to meet rigorous grade level standards. As a TLE team we are doing uh checks throughout the year. So the SBA is like the health of the system data and then we are doing interim assessments throughout the year where we can then use that as short cycle data to change what we're doing and use that as a measurement of our effectiveness that the work we're doing with leadership gatherings with our coaches with what we're happening in schools. And so we're doing consistent data that is on a smaller scale but for school
062improvement it is the SBA data because that is the ultimate measure that our state uses as well. Okay. >> Thank you. Yeah. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you. Good evening and welcome. >> I'm I'm sure that you know uh from the last year that we script. I script and that's an an effort to honor our time together, but I really do appreciate the dialogue and the questions and the comments and I welcome that. And as we wrap up the TLE update, I'd like to go back to the TLE website that I introduced to you at your last meeting and point out that here when you scroll down on the well, there's the data dashboard that we've been referencing. So that might be of interest to you and we'll be updating that soon. But down
063here on the special education web page, you'll see supporting detail on the inclusive schools philosophy that Dr. Bennett shared. Down here at the very bottom are three stories. Next to Ukaru is an inclusive schools link. And for you or anyone u attending virtually this meeting that wants to know more about inclusive schools or the topics that we share at our TLE update, we're trying really hard to uh make sure that our website is uh contains current and relevant information that applies to what what we're sharing. Uh the effort with these web pages falls under operational expectations eight and nine which focus on communication with the board and communicating with the public. At your next meeting on October 28th, the TLE update will focus on trends in school improvement plans, the smarter balanced assessment data which
064was referenced this evening, and we'll include our first student performance of the school year, a jazz combo from Mountain View High School. I'm looking forward to that the most. I think this concludes our TLE update. >> Thank you. >> The next item on our agenda is board comments. Anyone want to go first? >> Sure. Um with respect to the prioritization of uh was legislative positions, I completed the update um as directed uh by the consensus we built in workshop. Uh but I wanted to point out that uh uh the position enrollment decline wasn't actually in the list uh because that position was consolidated into a stabilizing district budgets position. Uh that was the one I chose. Otherwise the list is the same as uh the way we discussed. I want to thank uh once again
065uh Dr. Singleton for her service to this district, to the kids here, uh especially to bringing along our student representatives and uh the safe and sack teams. Um I've prepared a little thank you uh for her, which I'll deliver tomorrow if that's all right. um consisting of uh really just uh our equity policy uh with some thank you notes from the board um where the words there uh that she inspired us with uh are highlighted um in the hopes that uh she'll remember us fondly and and stay in contact because um anything she offers to the district in my view is going to be pretty important. Um, and that's all I have. >> Any other comments? >> I just want to welcome our student reps and our student leaders. I'm excited to work with you
066this school year. >> Yeah, I want to welcome you as well. So, yeah, thank you. Look forward to your input. So, and yeah, wish Dr. Singleton well in her next endeavor. So, and maybe her words tonight, maybe we can take some of those to fruition. So, thanks. >> Okay. Um, again, thank you and to everybody who came and spoke tonight. Um, very excited to have our new students with us, working with us. We're going to have a workshop in a few minutes where we have a our first discussion with the students to find out what's on their minds and what's important to them. We'll discuss policy development. Our WA annual conference is coming up next month. And that is it. It is 6:31 p.m. And this meeting is adjourned. [Music]