001Good evening. It's 5:30 p.m. >> Welcome to the regular board of directors meeting. Please join us for the pledge of allegiance. I allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nation indivisibley. >> Thank you. Director Perkins has our land acknowledgement. Evergreen Public Schools resides on the traditional lands of the Chinukan peoples and the Kowitz tribe. They have lived on and cared for this land and its waterways since time immemorial. 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. The first item on our agenda is to adopt the agenda. Um, I would like to amend the agenda removing the TLE update to the September
0029th board meeting. Is there is there a motion? >> Move adoption of the agenda as presented. >> Second >> or as amended, sorry. >> Still second. >> Director Perkins moves to adopt the agenda as amended. Seconded by Director Gwalt. All in favor? I >> opposed. So moved. 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 member of the board, the administrative staff, or the audience. Although the board will not engage in dialogue, the board chair may ask a speaker a clarifying question or follow up at a later time on an issue raised during
003public comment. General reminders. Each speaker has a maximum of three minutes. There is no mechanism by whereby a speaker can donate some or all of their time to another speaker. No individual may speak more than once per regular meeting, even if there is time remaining. And please state your name and district affiliation, if any, when speaking. Amy apprentice Good evening. >> Hi, good evening. Um, my name is Amy Apprentice. My district affiliation at this point is just as a taxpayer and voter and a school volunteer. I'm came out tonight when I would really rather be at home with my family to offer my wholehearted support and the wholehearted support of my husband and kids to PSSE and to really encourage you to negotiate with them in good faith to get a contract in place that
004values the work that they do. Um, our neighborhood school calls on our little elementary kids to be safe, kind, respectful, and responsible. But unfortunately, I would submit to you that the district's bargaining team um led by your COO has been none of those things. At this point, understaffing and underpaying the PAR educators who work directly with our most disregulated and highest need students puts the physical and mental safety of our employees and our students at risk every day. slashing funding for student focused programs and people like teacher librarians and Excel and PAR educators and interventionists while still dipping into financial reserves to promise regular uncontested raises to the ASC staff. That's not fiscally responsible. And I would challenge you to find any union employee in this district who's not related by blood or marriage who
005wants to attest that the bargaining team has treated them in a way that is either kind or respectful. I'll yield the rest of my time. I just want to let you know and assure you that parents have not forgotten the bad faith action of the district's negotiating team two years ago towards the teachers and parents and community members will stand with PSSE as long as this takes. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you speaker. Hello Good evening. I'm Melinda Tropher Cooper and I'm PSSE president. >> It's not Burger King and we don't expect it all our way, but unfortunately you do. Your superintendent does and most importantly your chief negotiator does. It shows in how you allow her to bargain with our union partners. We have tried to have open communications regarding needs and
006wants of our members only to be told you're uninterested or just given an out-and-out no. This is not bargaining. This is bullying. something educators and people at large, including yourselves, say is not tolerated in Evergreen. But here you are sanctioning it. You now have three strikes under your belt. There is a game with three strikes and you get called out. Let that sink in for a minute. Now, let's talk about the lies that were sent to parents today. Yesterday, we told the mediator who notified your bargaining team that we were unavailable today because our field rep had important appointments that had been made before the strike vote. We stayed late last night and offered to stay later, but were told your team was done for the day. We offered to meet last weekend as well,
007but it was declined by your side. 20 days were offered and your team declined all but two. We took those and when approached last week added another. We are not stretching this out. You are. You are also cherrypicking who works and who doesn't. If you are truly broke, how is it that you can offer the secretaries union four extra days of work this week? If you are truly broke, how can you offer our security guards extra week extra work in the coming days? If you are truly broke, how can you tell our bus drivers to come in and work? We are either all locked out or none of us are and we can use your parking lots and bathrooms, right? You have been told numerous times, we do it for the kids, and that is
008true. But many of us have our own kids, and we are struggling to keep them fed, housed, and closed. This job is not sustainable for many. So, they work multiple jobs, visit food banks, donate blood, whatever it takes to be able to help our students while still trying to care for our families. As inflation continues to rise, so does the wage gap. You can and should help by paying a livable wage. We understand you have money issues and we need to do more with less. And we have been doing just that. We have tried to help you fix the problems you have created. We have phonebanked, signwaved, and voted for your levies. We have taken on the work of two and sometimes three staff members because you can't attract nor retain staff. We have supplemented
009the shortcomings in our classrooms alongside our teachers. We've taken less and worked without a contract. But we too have come to a point where we have no more to give. We are stretched thin and we need to be able to continue. We need help to be able to continue. When did being comparable to other districts become okay? When I came to Evergreen, this district was the gold standard. We were proud to work here and we were sought after. And this is no longer the case. Average has become the norm. Tonight, I am here to let you know that though we were told we didn't have the juice to pull off a strike vote, while being disrespectful, it has also been very motivating. Our members are more than willing to show you our juice. Our question
010is, which flavor would you like? We have we have Strawberry Pucker, Tropical Punch, or Sunny D. These are the names of our strike lines, and we are willing to walk them if we have to. Or you can tell your negotiating team to stop with the games and get to work and bargain. >> Tell them to give, not just take. and tell them that yes is okay when both parties come to work with something that isn't one-sided. Do better and lead with kindness. Aren't those your buzzwords this year? You should be ashamed of yourselves cuz we are. Next person up. Adam Aguilera. Hello dear Evergreen School Board and Superintendent Maloney. My name is Adam Aguilera. I'm a teacher in Evergreen Public Schools. Today should have been the first day of school to welcome my students into
011class. Instead, I'm here once again speaking out about a strike this school district leadership has forced with the latest rotating superintendent sitting there. There's been a lot of lies coming from this deis. And so, let's look at the facts. First of all, the school district leadership has forced a 4-day strike. The district has been bargaining with PSC since March and it's had plenty of time to sign a fair contract. A deal could have been made over the weekend, but the district wasn't available to bargain and already told the entire community that school won't start until after Labor Day. So, the school board has added 4 days to the strike, admitting they can't come up with a deal until the last minute like always because the truth is the board continues to allow the chief operations
012officer to lead the district bargaining team despite a record failure causing multiple strikes in Everton public schools. >> Anyone directly? Thank you. I'm not speaking to anyone's name specifically. For years, the school board has been aware of uh multiple complaints from administrators and staff about a climate of fear and retaliation being created in this school district. Um not only that, but members of the bargaining team personally enriching themselves using taxpayer dollars to give themselves $31,000 in bargaining bonuses from the last strike in 2023 in which a lead barner received $14,000 of it. Which begs the question, Evergreen School Board, are you going to give them another $31,000 bargaining bonus? Do they get more money every day they keep Evergreen students from attending their first day of school? And what has happened since this school board
013has protected this behavior? This behavior has continued from the same people who are being allowed to abuse staff at the bargaining table. At one point, one of them called Evergreen's classified staff is being expendable, that working here is in Burger King, you can't have it your way, and that she thinks that classified staff didn't have the juice to strike. How disrespectful and unprofessional. What is wrong with them? Dr. Maloney, I hope you're putting a stop to this bullying at the table behind closed doors. Do you allow them to say this in front of you? Do you snicker? Do you laugh? I hope not. These are good workingclass people here in this room tonight. They deserve more respect than that. Dr. Maloney, you tout that you're the first woman superintendent in the district. And after teaching
014for almost 20 years in this district, I admit it's refreshing not to have a tall white man named John as superintendent. But we need more than your identity. We need your representation. PSSE members are over 90% women who are working two to three jobs so they can continue serving Evergreen students. Pay them what you owe them so Evergreen students can start their school year with the appropriate support and staffing levels they need to be successful. [Applause] >> Heather Christensen Our next speaker is Heather Christensen. Yes, Heather Christensen. Hello. Good evening. My name is Heather Christensen and I'm the state president for public school employees of Washington SEIU Local 1948. We represent over 30,000 education support professionals across Washington. People who like our members here in Evergreen are the backbone of public education. Before I stand
015before you tonight in solidarity with our Evergreen chapter who have taken the difficult and courageous step of striking for dignity and respect. A budget is not just numbers on a page. It is a moral document. It tells your community loud and clear what and who you value. On this Women's Equality Day, it is worth asking, what does it say about your values when work that has historically been women's work is still systemically undervalued and underpaid in this district. Education support professionals are the heart of your schools. They are the bus drivers who start the and end the day with students, the playground staff who keep them safe, the pared educators who provide direct service in the classroom, the maintenance workers who keep schools running every day. They are the constant trusted adults and students lives.
016To deny them competitive living wages does not just short change workers, it weakens our schools and this community. In a moment when public education and workers everywhere are under attack, Evergreen has the opportunity to lead. The way your representatives approach bargaining sets the tone for this entire district. Our members are not just asking for a fair contract. They are asking you to lead with dignity, respect, and equity. Values that strengthen both schools and communities. I urge you to reflect on what your budget says about your priorities and to choose a path that honors your employees. Let your budget reflect respect because when you respect the workers who make schools run, you respect the students who learn in them. Evergreen deserves nothing less. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Corey Young. Corey Young. >> Hello. >>
017Hi, my name is Corey Young. I have five kids in the district, elementary, middle school, high school. Two of which have IEPs as well as I volunteer a lot. I am doing my best to assume positive intent. However, the statements that have been released over the past several days leave much to be desired. You have had six months in which to reach negotiations with PSSE. Yet, here we are still no agreement in sight. A statement that is shift and statements are shifting blame to members of PSSE. This spring, you found it completely okay to give the ASC a raise of 2.5%, most of whom are already earning 200K plus, which is 100K more than the average household in your district. However, you want us to believe that there's no budget to pay your student facing
018staff an actual living wage. Your actions speak to the hope of the general public's ignorance and lack of knowledge. A bold and frankly shaky hypothesis at best. You want things sustainable under our current budget restraints. How is almost half a million dollar in legal fees in six months sustainable when your sistering districts average around 20k in legal fees per year? You find all this legal litigation sustainable? Paying secretaries bonuses to work this week and cross picket lines. Where's the money for that but not your employees? Make them sense, please. Selective brokenness does not make sense. Lessons learned from the previous two strikes. Looks like the only thing you've learned is that you will not put the students and staff that face them first unless you absolutely have to. The stu the schools run for the
019students, not for the admin offices in the ASSE. If the conditions you expect the PSSE members to work with and in arguable, then lead by example and actions and do their work at their pay for even one week. I personally don't think any of y'all would last. Lessons learned. We're learning lessons, too. That the ASC is all talking, no actions, and the talk is halftruth at best. Lessons learned. the strikes in 2018, 2023, and the two current ones. Maybe the district could learn that holding off reaching an agreement in six months with hoping of weaponizing the students to prevent a strike isn't a good strategy. The board affirms its responsibility to act in good faith and directs the district's bargaining team to meet each business day until resolution is reached. Yet, in an email from
020a board member that I received today said, "We do not participate in bargaining and have full confidence in the district." So, which is it? Are you acting in good faith and not participating or are you directing them? You cannot have it both ways. The residents of the district and the school age children in the community will be irreparably injured through the action of the PSSE large group and its members. Honest question, do you actually know what irreparable means? It means sorry I just lost my spot. Ah, impossible to rectify or repair. Starting school a week late because you, the district, can't agree to actually pay your student facing employees a decent wage isn't irreparably injured. It's inconvenient. It's annoying maybe, but not irreparable. Gun violence at Evergreen High School that got hushed up and dismissed.
021Columbia Valley misconduct being hushed up. Students are having consistent staff because the district's retention is so poor due to low wages. So their learning is interrupted. Theater, music, technical programs being delayed because the school board and district office decide to delay school because they can't bargain and go faith. So these students productions and events are now missing time. Those are irreparable things. The fact that you have the audacity to decide for the residents and students that there is no coming back from this injury is grossly inappropriate and diminishing to anyone who has gone through actual irreparable damage. All these statements did is an attempt to shift the narrative to where PSC is the bully and you the poor well paid district admins are the victims and to show there's no line you're not willing to
022cross to put out the narrative you want that you are willing to weaponize the very students you claim to represent if by so doing you appear blameless we are not stupid we see through this where's your positive intent in all this or is it simply positive for you and not the students staff and families you claim to serve >> Aaron Parkinson Aaron Parkinson. >> Hello. >> Hi. Good evening. Need my readers. I'm of the age. My name is Aaron Parkinson. I'm a special education teacher. I've worked here in Evergreen in Vancouver public and in private school. I am also the parent of a child at Columbia Valley Elementary who receives special services. In theory, that didn't happen. I'm here tonight to advocate for our pair educators and classified staff. With the district's adoption of the
023inclusive classroom model and the elimination of special programs, special education teachers are stretched thin with heavy case loads and a historically wide range of student needs. Who is holding the line but our pareducators. They are delivering SDI, executing IEPs, collecting data, implementing BIPS, teaching and self-regulation strategies. They collaborate with general education teachers, building administrators, specialists, and behavior teams. In short, they are educators. Period. They are also Thank you. They are also the first to respond to student escalation. I've seen colleagues kicked, punched, scratched, bitten, stabbed with pencils, hair pulled, spat on, all while keeping calm, maintaining um deescalation strategies, and accessing their ukaroo training. And in these moments of trauma, the aftermath is brutal. These pair educators return to students with compassion, teaching self-regulation and restorative practices. Other districts in Clark County face budget shortfalls,
024too. But EPS is the only one trying to balance the budget on the backs of its lowest earners. Meanwhile, raises and bonuses flow into the administrative offices. We've all seen the list of the top 10 EPS earners. None of them are studentf facing. History has its eyes on all of you and this district has already made massive historical missteps. How you choose to value or devalue our par educators in this moment will echo far beyond tonight. It's time to shrink the pay gap, repeal the bonuses, freeze administrative salaries, invest in people who actually make inclusion work. I have I have heard the union was told that they don't have the juice to strike. Well, it looks like the Bronco is loaded up and the juice is loose. Do the right thing. Pay our colleagues for
025the students and for our future. Give them a livable wage now. Thank you. Thank you, >> Camille Lman. Our next speaker is Camille Lman. >> Our next speaker is Camil. There she is. >> Hello. >> My name is Camille Lman. I'm a parent here in the district. I want to thank the board first of all uh that you chose not to reduce the amount of time per citizen for public comment this evening. It's really appreciated. Conversely, however, the board's choice to meet in secret on Friday and then randomly come out of executive st session straight to just reading aloud resolution 7077 without any explanation and then abruptly voting on it without any true discussion was absolutely deplorable. Especially considering a nearly identical resolution 6091 was passed by three of the five current sitting board members
026back in 2018 in an open public meeting where there was much discussion that occurred before the vote. In this resolution, the board affirms its commitment to ensuring that district bargains in good faith. Can the board truly say that the district is bargaining in good faith after an entire web page was made sharing information privy to bargaining teams? Oh, but they did that in 2023 and teacher with the teachers and they got away with it, so that must be okay. U or the press release that went out today by the district making false claims about the union's reason for being unavailable today. It was like a press release war with what I presume to be very easily verifiable claims. Why was this worth it to the district to lie about? And why is it that the
027board is able to spend considerable amounts of taxpayer funds to send the district's bargaining team up to Spokane year after year for expensive multi-day negotiation trainings that are alle firm that benefits during intense negotiations like this through significant increase in billable hours just to add to the nearly half million dollars spent in the first months for six months of 2025. But the board can't find enough money to ensure that the support staff can make a living wage and actually get paid for all of the hours that they work serving students. However, the most insulting section of 7077 was directed at the residents and parents of the district, asserting that a strike by PSSE would cause irreparable injury to school age children and education process. This is especially insulting considering the community came alongside the EA
028in 2023 showing no irreparable injury occurred. A declaration in opposition to this claim has been circulating this week and I've collected well over 200 signed affirmations from parents to provide to the board and continue to share for the rest of the week as parents and residents of the district sign them. Um the superintendent often speaks of her five mindsets. One being be kinder than necessary is this expectation the superintendent holds for her leadership team as well. the statements made by the district's lead bargainer that Mindy shared earlier. Is this considered kinder than necessary? And will this behavior ever stop being tolerated by the same lead barner who gave herself a $13,000 bonus in 2023? I have been told more than once that my advocacy is negative. As a board member stated on Friday, "Anger never
029persuades." So, I stepped back. I was nicer, but nothing got better. So, I'm back to negative advocacy disruption. the only way real and effective change has ever occurred historically. So the juice of the PSSE union partners, parents, community, and students has been underestimated. That's hurtful. And honestly, it's not kinder than necessary. Katherine Fertick. Our next speaker is Katherine Fertick. Our next speaker is Katherine Fertik. >> Hello. >> Good evening. My name is Katherine Ferdick. I'm a parent of four children graduated through EPS. Friday's resolution references lessons learned through previous strikes. Here are some lessons your community and staff have also learned. Personally, I can only concede with a resolution helping parents plan because day-to-day uncertainty created so much strain in 2020 2023. That being said, all that strain was primarily due to the district's negotiators
030stalling and delay who then profited from the delay they caused in a financial climate of a third year of massive budget cuts resulting in the loss of our remaining librarians sufficiently gutting our district. Lesson, the district doesn't bargain in good faith. It would rather spend the taxpayers money on lawyers and secret stipens than staff who work directly with students and factors into people leaving the district. This lesson on bad faith bargaining was disappointingly illustrated just this morning by the district update on the website. Where is the assuming positive attent intent and kinder than necessary amongst these disingenuous claims? As far as unlawful striking or other otherwise refusing to perform official duties, it is not PSSE's duty to live in poverty, provide cheap labor in poor working conditions for public's sake, nor to accept pocket change
031in pay differential for working with students with extreme aggressive behaviors resulting in staff nursing concussions or other related injuries at home questioning if that pocket change is worth it. If you say get a different job then, which many have heard, don't you think it's convoluted when you could make more delivering pizza than supporting our students and community, would you fill these positions? Who will? Who can afford to? To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less. the pattern of stalling, dragged out, contentious bargaining, unprofessional comments yet again during each bargaining cycle and strike from the lead bargainer. Are we seeing evidence of Dr. Maloney's teachings of kinder than necessary, assuming positive intent, or is that deemed unapplicable to the bargaining team?
032Our leadership has spent more time conversing with lawyers than the constituents who voted them in and approved the levies and bonds. We can see a pattern of disinterest and avoidance between voiced frustration about minimal or non-existent responses from the board with emails and can be confirmed by PRRS of responses to community emails compounded by the board's recent workshop discussion on who was necessary to respond to or not. The true irreparable harm as has occurred in the erosion of community trust and any connection or sense of interest in the community it was designed to serve. Thank you. Rebecca Goldman. >> Hello. >> Uh, hi there. My name is Rebecca Goldman. I'm a mom of two little kids, uh, including one preschooler at Crestline Elementary. I know tensions are running high, so I'm going to try the
033gentle parenting approach that I use when my kids can't get along. Okay. Hi, school board friends. Hi, EPS admin friends. How are we feeling today? Are you frustrated? Yeah, I'm feeling frustrated, too. I want my daughter to go to school, but our PSSE friends need a cooling off break because you weren't playing nicely. They are marching down the street and carrying signs. They are using their voices and their bodies to say, "I don't like how you're treating me. That's not okay." How do we play nicely with our friends? We need to share. Yeah, we need to share. When some friends have lots of juice boxes and some friends are still thirsty because they don't have enough juice boxes, that's not being fair. When our friends who make the most money get raises before our friends
034who make the least money, that's also not being fair. I know sometimes, even when we're trying to be fair, our friends don't believe us. They remember the last time we played together and we said mean things to them and to our other union friends, we have to say we're sorry and really mean it and try extra hard to be fair next time. Can you say that? I'm sorry. Next time I will come with a kind attitude. Sometimes we need a little extra help from an adult when we can't play nicely with our friends. But when those adults are lawyers, they have billable hours. Can you say that? Billable hours. And that costs a lot of money. Can we try to work together before we ask our lawyer friends for help? No. You No, you have
035to go back to the negotiating table. But you can choose how you get there. You can walk nicely or you can scream and throw a tantrum and say our PSSE friends can't have it their way. It's okay to have big feelings, but we have to handle those feelings in a smart way. I want you to make good choices. I want you to take a belly breath, put on your listening ears, and really listen to our PSSE friends and the community members who support them. I know you can do it. You can do hard things. Okay. Wow, that was really exhausting. Whatever you're paying our preschool pared educators and bus drivers, it is not nearly enough. Thank you. I'm all done. All done. >> Heather Rice. Our next speaker is Heather Rice. Heather Rice. >> Hello.
036>> Good evening. My name is Heather Rice and I am the school nurse at Covington Middle School, Hearthwood Elementary, Home Choice Academy, and Hollingsworth Academy. If that sounds like a lot of schools for one nurse, it is. The school nurses are actually part of the EA union and our case load is one nurse to,450 students. If that sounds like a lot of students for one nurse, it is. The 18 school nurses could not do our jobs without the amazing procedure nurses who belong to the PSSE union. These nurses spend their days driving from school to school, taking care of our most medically fragile students. They monitor diabetics student blood sugars and administer insulin. They catheterize students who have issues with their neurological systems and bladders. They administer tube feedings and titrate oxygen. They keep our
037students alive. I could not do my job without these professionals. While my assignment dictates that I cannot be at each of my schools every day, these nurses are. In addition to performing the procedures, they are forming connections and creating relationships with the students as well as their parents. They are teaching them the life skills of how to manage their own bodies and health so that they can control their medical issues independently. These nurses deserve and have our utmost respect. I am asking that you also show them your respect by directing your bargaining team to agree to a fair contract for the entire PSSE group. Thank you. Amberlin Lane. Hello. Hi, my name is Amber Lin Lane and I am a teacher speaking today as someone who witnesses countless support staff make all the difference and
038countless support staff burn out as they are mistreated in their job and stressed about the cost of living. I'm also speaking as the parent of EPS children. I want to comment on the resolution that the board passed last week and specifically the line that this strike is causing lasting harm to the community and children. The TLDDR is no, it doesn't. First, I'll give my long answer in in the form of a list. And the first one is things that have lasting harmful impact on children. Needing and legally requiring assistance and support in schools to get a basic education but not receiving it. Having classmates so disregulated because their needs are not being met that they disrupt the learning for everyone, sometimes violently. Kids who need connections with a trusted adult, building that relationship with the
039person who becomes their best advocate only to have that adult get rifted or reassigned or leave the job altogether because they can't afford to meet their own needs if they keep meeting the needs of the children they care for. Having parents or caregivers working multiple jobs still wondering how to keep housed with the lights on while they're caring for other people's children. watching powerful adults claim to want what's best for them while clearly witnessing how they mistreat the adults who are actively working to help children be their best. And now a list of things that do not cause lasting irreparable harm to children. Delaying school by a few days. Witnessing adults collaborate, organize, and teach by example. One of the most important lessons that children can learn, standing up for their right, that they have
040to be treated fairly. James Watson Hughes. Hello. My name is James Watson Hughes and I have been a school bus driver in Evergreen School District for just under 5 years. In my time working for Evergreen Transportation, I have witnessed a culture of expected free labor. Before I was hired, I was asked to do a voluntary ride along to see if I like the job. When I came back, they told me and said told them I was interested. They told me, "All right, come back the next day." And I said, "No thanks. I already know I want to do the job." and they told me that uh it was actually mandatory and I had to do several more to familiarize myself with the schools. So my voluntary use of time quickly became mandatory unpaid training in
041transportation. Us bus drivers are given 30 minutes every day for pre-trips and post- trips. management tries to fit as much into that as they can, including uh because when we pull out of the stall, that's when we clock in and when we pull into the stall, that's when we clock out. That means everything from pre-tripping to securing our bus, turning our keys in, checking our box, checking in with dispatch when we have notes on our box or training or management. That's all off the clock. file filling out incident reports, um writing students up, even fueling the bus is supposed to be off the clock and a part of that 30 minutes of pre-trip, post-trip time. Anytime it was brought up, management would say, "Oh, well, were you keeping track? Did you really use all your
042time?" Nobody really was keeping track. So, I started. What I found out was that I was being I was working an hour and a half to two hours per week unpaid on a good week. It was no surprise to me that the paras were facing a similar problem that they were working time off the clock to make sure special needs, our most vulnerable students were transported to and from their bus safely. These paras had a choice. Work off the clock or put the children at risk. One of the bigger points of contention is making sure paras get paid every minute they're actually working. By refusing, you're making the paras make that choice. And you want to talk about irreparable harm. The school board may be willing to make that gamble, but none of us are.
043[Applause] Lori and Kamisi Kami. Good evening, directors and Dr. Maloney. Um, my name is Lauri Kamasi. Um, I am an elementary music teacher at Hartwood. I have been at Hartwood for 20 years now and I've been in the district for 24. I am the mother of a son who is a product of the Evergreen Schools. He graduated Evergreen High School. So, this district has a very um special place in my heart. And what I keep thinking about is in order to serve our children and to get them all the things that they need, it takes a village. It takes the teacher. It takes the staff assistants. Um the people in the lunchroom, the bus drivers that are bringing them. There are so many people that are vital to make sure that our students are being
044served and that they're getting the education that they deserve. along with the other students being able to learn. When you have one student who is really struggling, you need someone to help support that student. It's impossible. As the teacher, I've got like 20 22 kids. I'm I'm lucky. Our school's a little small. Um, and you're trying to teach them. And you got a kid over here yelling and screaming and try threatening to throw a drum at me and calling me names. And so, you know, I need someone else to come in. Um, we have one of the best people ever that works at our building. I'm sure there's many others. This is just my experience. He is a large man. He will come in and he will very quietly kneel down next to the child,
045and I've seen him do this with many different children, and he'll just talk very quietly to them. Then the child will stand up and just calmly walk out the door with him. There's no more noise, no more difficulty, you know, and then he addresses things and works with them outside of the classroom. But that without that, I've got, you know, 19 other students who are not learning music. that this is their right to receive a public education that is full and includes everything that they should have. The members of our PSSE union are absolutely vital and I have seen so many of them where we have someone that yes, they really speak to the students. They are doing so awesome and then they end up having to leave because they can't afford to pay their
046rent and they're using the food bank and the district next to us pays them more. All of the districts around us pay them more. If we want to keep quality people that are serving our children, pay them what they deserve. >> Rachel Campbell. Hello. >> Hi. My name is Rachel Campbell. I'm a parent of a child in EPS. I'm a graduate of EPS. I'm an avid voter and a follower of the goings on here. Um, so what have I seen? Um, in the past nine years, every contract negotiation year, whether it's a union or a non-unanized group, every meeting with the district's bargaining team has resulted in a near strike or uh or a full-on strike delay of school starting. Um, just very contentious bargaining over the past nine years. Um, 10 if you include
047Kelso. And it's bad optics. Nine years for EPS. Um, not just for the workers who are demonized by the district, um, who are just fighting for protections for themselves, protections for their students, um, competitive wages for positions that we cannot live without. It's also bad optics for the district, for all of you. Um, and the same tactics that are used for negotiation every every time, um, they're changed ever so slightly. sometimes more demoralizing twist, more lawyer fees going into it. Um, we're paying a very high price for a very bad reputation. And through the veil that we've been given of fiscal responsibility, we still see the approved raises that the ASC positions got, those non-critical positions, the raises they got, and we won't forget. So my question, one question I have to the board is
048will the district's bargaining team be getting um another additional bump for bargaining this time? Um I remember the employee who lost their job as a result of exposing the bargaining contracts from last time and I won't forget. So my call to action is to hopefully I'm I'm correct in this is that you have the the superintendent answers to you and all the other employees answer to the superintendent. So my call to action is to cut the corruption from the top. And I'm not talking about the superintendent. She hasn't been here for nine years instilling these patterns of corruption, nor any stu superintendent before her. Um not not even the CFO who has the impossible job of balancing a budget uh that's driven by sometimes corrupt priorities. Cut the corruption at the top and see how
049quickly you win elections, re-elections, landslides. even Victoria Bradford never saw um see levies and bonds supported by staff and campaign for because we can actually stand behind something when um the district's decisions aren't driven by corruption. Uh the last thing I want is to be here next year uh when the teachers come back to negotiate and we haven't made any progress. It's such a waste of time and money and it's not what we define as success. Thank you. Samantha Bowler. >> Hi again. My name is Samantha Bowler. You've heard from me already at the last board meeting. Um, I'm still a sped parah at Ill Elementary. I am uh calling uh once again because I guess uh we weren't heard all the way through the first time around. So, um let's just double back and
050make sure that all of my points were made clear from the last time. Um retention is the most important thing. Yes. >> So when we see things saying, "Oh, we're going to give our parag educators 4.5% raise the first year only and then what? Nothing." That is going to cause a revolving door of paras, a revolving door of staff, and you will never be able to build those bonds and relationships that you need in order to actually work with our students. We know our students well. We know what kids that we can call for a social group for our kiddos and we know their basketball game and how it went and we know everything about them and they love us as much as we love them. So I hope I hope that all of this
051is not falling on deaf ears. Okay? Because once again reiterating, I've worked for almost 5 years now in the Evergreen School District. I am still making less than $2,000 a month. I do not have a child. I want a child. I can't afford a child. I do not care if enrollment is getting lower. There is a reason for it and it's not our fault. Special education enrollment however is going up and you know what you need for that parents you need support you need people to be there to help those kiddos and to help the classroom in which those kiddos are being forced to stay in because they don't have the supports or places to go when they are not able to regulate themselves. It is not fair to them and therefore that is why
052I'm standing up here today. I care so much that I'm working for pennies right now and I've had people tell me go find another job. But how how would that feel to a parent to know that the district thinks that the people that are working directly with the students are replaceable and don't really matter and are unskilled? >> It's not correct. It's a false narrative. We are all skilled, trained, highly capable professionals who care and are worth so much more than what we have right now. I just want you to sit with that for a moment. We are worth more. I hope you see that. Thank you. Angie Bunda. Angie Penda. Hello. Good evening. My name is Angie Bunda. I have two children in the district and I'm out of breath. I came here today
053thinking that I would talk about a lot of different things, but everyone's already mentioned all of the things. I think I mean the fact that there's multiple raises for admins but there's not for other people. The fact that there was no money for the PSSE but now there's extra bonus money for secretaries if they come in and work anyways. Uh gosh hiring temp people and all the materials that they might need but the people in this room don't have the materials they need. Um what I really wanted to talk to you guys about today was integrity. I go to all your workshops. I write all the things down. And at your workshop you had a couple weeks ago uh during on Thursday at noon, you were talking about integrity, what it means. And someone said,
054you know, it means walking the talk. It means communicating and listening to people. Someone else said that the people who are the loudest don't necessarily represent all of the stakeholders. Therefore, they don't need to be acknowledged, which was awkward because I was sitting right there. But my question for you is that your actions kind of show what you prioritize. Do you feel like your actions are prioritizing our children? I've read on the news that the district is experiencing significant budget challenges and that I've had emails from some of you saying that you are apprised of the budget as the year goes on. So why weren't you thinking there were significant budget challenges in May when you gave all the administrators raises? Why did that change? You cannot be selectively broke. You cannot be not broke
055for these people but too broke for those people. And it comes down to a question of why do the PSSE and Chartwells and potentially the principles because we know that they're still negotiating. We heard Tony Miles come and say it's not going well. Why are they less of employees than the administrators who are making the most and taking the most of the budget who do not interface with the children? And when we think about where the the bulk of the money is going, is it being prioritized to our children and the people that teach them in the classrooms? Also, I just wanted to say that putting out your resolution with this situation having uh significant irreparable harm on our children was very disappointing because I've personally emailed most of you about multiple things that actually
056are causing irreparable harm to our children and I've not gotten responses or acknowledgements. There are situations that are causing irreparable harm like the person on my shirt and we need to actually address those. Thank you. Margaret Hunter. Good evening, board, Superintendent Maloney, and Evergreen stakeholders. Um, tonight I was going to say all those things other people said, and I was kind of prepared for them to be said before I got up here because I found that I was number 17. Um, I do appreciate this place for us to voice. Um, I think it's one of the best places we can voice. It doesn't get lost in an email. It's public and it goes on record. Um, I was apprehensive today because I didn't know if I was going to be able to stand because I've
057been on the street listening to our PSSE people all day. I stayed in my classroom and so I thought today let's get personal. We all have common ground. Everyone in this room is hardworking. Everyone in this room is persistent. Everyone in this room is passionate about students and what we do to help them and support them and their families. And everyone in this room is very engaged. Those are all the same things I ask of students in my classroom. So, let's go back to my last day in the classroom with students. On the very last day, as I was reading to try to find critical points that are personal to me today, I'm looking at the why we're striking that I pulled off their line this afternoon. Student safety par educators are not always paid
058for time spent escorting students to and from buses. My last meeting with my students was this specific issue. I had a parah in a classroom of 32 really high need students. He was there for them, but his break happened the last 15 minutes of the day. I'm a strong labor supporter. I cannot ask him to work unpaid in my classroom. So every day when it was time for him to go, I said, "Go." I always knew some days he was looking at me like, "Oh my gosh, are you gonna be able to continue to fly this plane while I leave?" and I would just wave him out of the room with a smile on my face. I can handle it. But the real story is is that even if I can handle it, some of
059my students can't. That day became more upsetting to one particular student to the point where leaving the classroom with no support, hurting himself outside. Um, and I that was my last experience with that child. So, they do need that last 15 minutes of the day in the classroom. We need them. Our students need them. As a household, head of household, I don't when the utility companies send me warnings ahead of time that they're going to have to raise their bill rates. I don't ignore it and plan later. I start thinking as a homeowner, I'm going to budget that in. I don't wait till the utility company shuts off my gas, my water, my heat, my sewer before I take urgency to find the money. This isn't a new problem. It's been happening for years. It's
060not an isolated community problem here. It's happening across town. It's happening north. It's happening south. We have people on strike everywhere. And most of them are most underpaid employees in our district. As a tax homeowner, I just want you to know that after reading things about budget, how can I save? And in my own classroom, I spent last week going through every photocopy I could find to make sure I wasn't making unnecessary photocopy requests if I had those in my files. I filled my classroom with prints to make sure I found every single thing that I could save a dime. And I got home and I got this 20page full color glossy flyer from the district. This isn't necessary and some of it's inaccurate now because the schedule for the years in the back as
061a homeowner taxpayer. This offended me after seven hours of filing in my classroom. Thank you for the time. Jacob Smith. Hello. All righty. Ready when you are. Hello. >> All righty. Uh, evening board and superintendent. Uh, my name is Jacob Smith and I'm actually on this year's ballot for the school board. Two weeks ago, I addressed this board virtually because I had an event for the charter review candidates. Election season is in full swing and there are slew of events with various candidates all over my Facebook. We have 35 candidates running for the Charter Review Commission. In fact, I have 10 new Facebook friends because of it. I've had someone pull out of a bag, a textbook out of a bag this thick, and I got to hear from 27 different candidates. That's why last
062or two weeks ago, I had a rush testimony. The next day, however, I was able to watch the meeting. I was perplexed about what I heard. Very rarely do our board meeting videos hit 300 plus views in a two-day span, let alone approach 600 in a two in almost two weeks. I also happened to have experience of pair of educators. I had two in elementary school and I was diagnosed with autism at 18 months old and it has been toughing for me in life. It's painful to talk about it too and I hide it from others. My friend had one during our time at Silverstar and she interacted with me with professionalism. We went to different middle schools but we both went to Heritage. My friend's parent educator at Heritage I nicknamed Francis because he
063looks like Francis from Malcolm in the Middle. I spent time with him and my friend during our last day at Heritage and savor delicious godfather's pizza. Par educators are important and some things I heard and observed during your meeting uh two weeks ago were pay rates. I am shocked other districts seemingly are able to do things our district seems to do the opposite of cutting AVID not expanding it eliminating librarians and having poor pay rates. also find it perplexing we have somebody that has worked in our district yet makes $2110 an hour and how can I convince this board uh to get Heritage a retail student stored to support its deck program which I parttook when it does questionable decisions being principled prof practical and professional that was one of the things a charter review
064commissioner candidate said snarky comments from the table that's not professional it's not principled also I would have been a nay vote on your resolution you passed if I were on the board I'm not a congresswoman and unlike Congress I will read things, but we're voting to pass it. And we have to live with our actions, which have a ripple effect around us. Thank you, Lynn Nichols. Hello. >> Hi, I'm Lynn Nichols. I'm a licensed physical therapist assistant with the district. I'm itinerant. Uh I have been here for over 33 years and I've seen a lot over the years. Um I think I'm talking specifically about one topic that I heard just today and so I'm kind of talking talking off the cuff but uh it is regarding um the uh point of being compensated after
065being here for 30 years. There's a handful of us that I have a friend that has been here for over 40 years with the district and none of us are getting any any any extra incentives after 25 years. And so my understanding is that that um 30-year longevity bump um has been taken off the table for discussion. And you know, I think after so many years of providing um really good services to the district, everybody would like to be rewarded after such long longevity. And uh it's it's been a challenging job over the years. Uh you know, we tripled our workload during COVID and we're still here. Um, we've been here through revolving doors of admin and superintendence and I think it says a lot about our resilience that we're still here with the district
066because it's changed quite a bit from when I started. It was it was well-renowned and it was well known for our services and I that that atmosphere has has certainly changed um in the last five, seven, eight years. I don't know. It's just not what it used to be. Um, and I believe I was at uh one of the sitdowns where I heard that it was important to retain people, you know, that that have the the wisdom and the dedication to continue on. And I think those are incentives that need to be kept in place so that uh we can continue to mentor uh newbies coming on. And so I I just feel like there should be some compensation. There's many of us that have not gotten a bump um after 25 years. that's where
067it stops and there's a handful of us that would really like to be rewarded for our longevity with the district. Um, I just think it's it's a it's a need in order to keep people wanting to stay, but maybe that's not going to happen anymore because people are really tired of um not getting rewarded for their dedication. Anyways, I'd like you to rethink that and and possibly rec reconsider your decision on um the 30-year longevity bump for us uh long haulers that have been here. Thank you. Tessa Baldwin. >> Hello. Sorry. My name is Tessa Baldwin. I work at Hartwood Elementary and I am reading Julia Apples um what she wanted to share. She wasn't able to be here tonight. Um she is a special education teacher at Hartwood as well. Members of the board,
068Superintendent Maloney, and members of the bargaining committee. As a teacher, again, this is Julia, I stand firmly with my PSSE siblings for multiple reasons. One is how essential their roles are to any and all teaching in our schools. Another reason is because they deserve a wage that reflects their profession. And third, because they understand how it feels to be pushed to the point of a strike. I'm disappointed. I thought things might be different this time. From what Dr. Maloney, from what we've heard you say, I thought that you were listening to us, members of the board, the actions you've taken lately have been positive, and I thought showed you really wanted to rebuild the trust of the stakeholders in this district. I'm disappointed, sad, and frustrated that you've had since March to come to an
069agreement, yet here we are again. This makes me wonder if you did the same thing to PSSE that you did to the EA the last time they came to the table. I'm going to make a guess that PSSE came with respectable and deserving requests, possibly bigger than in the past to make up for the pay increase that that left them underpaid in the last bargain while you came to the table with takeaways. The bargain doesn't go quickly when you start with an offer that takes steps back from the current contract. I can't think of one industry where an employee comes to a management for their review and the employer offers them less. yet. That's what you did to EA and that's a good place to look at for why PSSE is now on strike. I
070I think what frustrates me the most is that during our bargains and this one having money in the reserve is a reason for not increasing wages. The importance of having some money in savings is not lost on me or on any of us. We get it. In fact, we'd all like to have a little buffer in our savings accounts. What's better, though? You have a robust savings account or you have healthy schools and healthy community. I'm not suggesting you deplete your savings down to nothing. What I'm suggesting is during these uncertain times where everyone and everything in life is costing more, you consider using more of your reserve to buffer the impact that has on the people who are keeping your schools open. Do the right thing for your students. Thank you. Thank you. Steve
071White. >> Hello. >> Good evening. My name is Steve White. I'm a bus driver for Evergreen here and uh also known as a counselor, as an advocate, many other roles. So, just keep that in mind that we're not just driving the bus out there. A lot of them we're protecting them from bullying, from parents, from everyone. So, that's my role. Um, I could be doing many other things, but I'm a bus driver now. So, I also referee in the evenings, giving back there. And again, with our students for high school, middle school, don't have to do it, but there was a need. So, I did it. The reason I came as a bus driver, there was a need. So, just keep that in mind. You know, if you think that we're all getting paid so
072much money, I just challenge you to the metrics, the rubrics, the metrics. How are you doing? How's your turnover rate? Why do we have so many open positions? Why? How do we compare to other districts? How do we compare to districts that are meeting the needs of all their students? Don't just compare to every district. Compare to the ones that are doing it well. Let's not just settle for minimum standards. We no longer have TAG. We're not challenging our students to be the best. I'm not sure where this district is going. And are we all going to go to the bottom or we're going to rise to the top like the cream? That's my suggestion. Christa Wilson. Okay, my name is Christa Wilson. I'm a special education parent educator at Marian Elementary School. But more
073importantly, I am a mother to three beautiful children who have attended Evergreen Public Schools since 2011. Lily is 14 and will be a freshman at Mountain View. Evan is 15 and will be a sophomore at Mountain View. My oldest daughter, Donna Wilson, tragically passed away on April 25th this year. Uh she was 17 and she would have been a senior at Mountain View High and all three of my babies would have been at the same school. Um this is a picture of Donna. I brought it to really express my appreciation to all of Evergreen staff. Um, the picture I'm holding was printed, signed, and framed by the district transportation office. It was given to me at Donna's funeral in May by her bus driver last year, Tina Caddy. Uh, Tina, along with several other bus
074drivers, I apologize, I don't remember everybody's name that was there. Um, obtained special permission to drive their school bus to my daughter's funeral. My family and I were incredibly touched by their thoughtfulness, taking time out of their day to drive a bus to a church outside of their route. It meant the world to us. I know Donna was well known to many across Evergreen Public Schools. While I don't have an exact number of employees who attended her funeral, I know it was a lot. Her life mattered. I' I'd like to believe she made a difference in the lives of each and every staff member who showed up. from the bottom of mine and my family's heart. Thank you. My daughter was an absolute rock star. She had a long list of health problems and was
075likely in pain almost constantly because of these problems. But if you knew Donna, you probably didn't know any of that. She was so happy. She was so full of life and she was everything to our family. Donna was a born cheerleader who loved music, dancing, laughing, and clapping and just never stopped any of those things. Uh to say that we miss her is an understatement. Uh Donna was also a child with special needs. She was non-verbal and lived with both cognitive and physical disabilities. Over the years, I got to know many school bus drivers and plenty of Evergreen staff who came to my driveway every day to pick her up and drop her off. In her 14 years at Evergreen School District, every driver truly appreciated that I stayed outside to see her on and
076off the bus, and we often got to chat while they were securing her wheelchair. Throughout her time in Evergreen public schools, Donna had countless teachers, therapists, PAR educators, and nurses supporting her. Her preschool has since closed, but the other schools she attended remain open. Milplane Elementary, special shout out to Kelly Dabney and Anna Ball. Shahala Middle School, a special shout out to Cameron Brothers, who has since retired. And Mountain View High School, special shout out to Lindseay Blackman Young. My family and I have endless gratitude and love for each and every one of you. Donna would not have been safe on a regular school bus and she would not have been safe at school without classified staff. Her parent educators were with her the most. Some of them are probably here tonight. While I was
077her voice at home, these staff members were her voice at school. Donna loved school. She was very happy to be there. In conclusion, I'm not just asking you to negotiate a fair contract for our PSC union. I'm urging you to recognize the people who make this district safe, accessible, and compassionate. My daughter's life depended on classified staff, bus drivers, PAR educators, nurses, therapists every single day. They didn't just do their job. They loved her, protected her, and gave her the chance to experience the joy of school like any other child. Donna is not here to speak for herself, but I am. And I'm here tonight for every student like her and every staff member who shows up for them with heart, skill, and dignity. Classified staff deserve to be treated with the same respect and
078com commitment they give our students. Fair pay, fair conditions, fair contract. Because when you support the staff who support our most vulnerable students, you're saying their lives matter, too. Thank you. Jamie Felen. Jamie, either Felin or Felen. Thank you. >> Hello. >> Welcome. I'm Jeanie Failen and I am a special ed ALC parah at Pacific Middle School. I love my job. Everybody behind me loves their job. Working with kids all day long, you have to love your job. And we certainly are not in it for the paycheck. I don't expect to drive a Range Rover, but I do expect to drive a car. I'm lucky. I started this job seven years ago. I already had a career for 35 years. I had to wait till I got old and had social security before I could
079do this job. Without social security, I would not be here because I couldn't live. You want the best from us as paras. We do our 70 hours every five years. We do another 10 hours of safe school every year. We're educated. We're motivated. We love working with these kids. I don't love my paycheck. There's dignity in a paycheck. It's not just about the dollars and what it's going to pay for. There is a sense of pride when you look at a paycheck. You experience it. You you get a raise and it's like, whoa, they realize I'm worth it. Everybody wants that feeling. I have a friend that's a parah that's going through a divorce and she's panicking. She can't afford to live on her own. She's going to move back. She's in her 50s. Move
080back home with her parents and go to trade school at this point in her life. We can't afford to get divorced. [Applause] I'm tired of people saying if you want to make more money go back to school. I have a bachelor's. My hat is off to the teachers. I don't begrudge them a single penny they earn. I subbed for five months before I realized that I was not going to get certified. Didn't want to get certified. I admire what they put up with. Three years ago, we were here and I took a an equity class and much to my amazement, my seatmate was John Boyd, the old superintendent. So I turned to him and I said, "Why can't we make a living wage?" And his response was, "When he started as a parah, he worked
081five jobs." Well, that put a total stop to the conversation. I was shocked. I didn't know how to respond. My question is, is this your expectation? Do you want us working multiple jobs? Because if we do, you don't get 100% from us. And I guarantee his five employers didn't get 100% of him. Do you really want somebody sleepdeprived with five jobs driving our kids in a school bus, teaching in a classroom? 10% increase over three years sounds fabulous. If you make three six figures, when you net $22,000 a year, you don't even feel it. You don't even see it. That's a cost of living. That's not a raise. We deserve a raise. >> Yes, ma'am. That concludes public comment for this evening. The next item on the agenda is the board consent agenda. Is there
082a motion? >> I move adoption of the board consent agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Director Perkins moves to adopt the board consent agenda as presented. Seconded by Director Grwalt. All in favor? >> I opposed. >> So moved. >> The next item is our superintendent consent agenda. Is there a motion? >> I move to approve tonight's superintendent consent agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Director Grwalt moves to adopt the superintendent consent agenda as presented. Seconded by Director Wilson. All in favor? I >> I >> opposed. So moved. >> Our next item is our superintendent report. >> Dr. Maloney. >> Good evening. Good evening everyone. Tonight I heard u a lot of passionate and heartfelt comments from all of you in support of our public school employees. I want to begin by saying thank you to
083everyone who stood up here and shared your perspectives tonight. We, the district, definitely do want to keep bargaining and have people back to work so our students can go to school on September 2nd. There are so many different roles that you all shared about tonight and some that you haven't that are full-time and part-time in our PSC large group. And each and every one of them, all of them are valuable in service for our students. In response to questions that have been arising over the past number of days today, we provided EPS staff and our community with answers to some frequently asked questions in a communication that went out earlier today. And then also it's on our bargaining web page if you missed those communications or were not part of that roll out. As your
084superintendent, this is a a heavy charge to do and it's tough. It must I must balance honoring staff because you work directly with our students and are so important to the education and care of our kids with also protecting the district's long-term stability so that we can continue to offer highquality education and safe spaces for our kids. There's no stability. >> This means that making careful and responsible decisions that endure for our students is essential. I ask you of the community to continue to stay engaged with respect. If we can be kinder, if we can be kinder than necessary even in hard moments such as these, we strengthen the relationships that hold our district together. And that allows us together to collectively overcome challenges so that we can focus on our main mission. And that
085main mission is we have to create hope for our students, for each other, and for our community and we have to increase student achievement. >> Give us hope. >> Thank you. >> That concludes my superintendent report tonight. Thank you. The next item on our agenda is our proposal for the 2526 Evergreen School District budget. Uh Jennifer Jacobson. >> Hi. Good evening to the board. Um I did my presentation two weeks ago at the board meeting. I didn't uh plan any words other than answer any questions you had about this. So this is really to adopt the resolution to adopt the budget. So uh are there any questions about the budget? >> Have there been any questions? >> Yeah, thank you Jennifer. Um just one comment. Um I'm looking forward to next year's uh budget and
086Rob and I being on the budget committee to be able to have more of input into the formation of it. So thank you. Any other comments? >> Have there been any questions directed to the superintendent's office? >> There have not been any directed regarding the budget. >> Is there a motion? >> Where is it? I make a motion to approve resolution number 7071, the 2025 2026 budget adoption. >> Second. >> Director Grwalt moves that we adopt the resolution number 7071 202526 budget adoption seconded by Director Perkins. All in favor? I >> I opposed. So moved. The next item on our agenda is proposals for action. Director Perkins. >> Hi. Uh Lori, could you bring up GC7? So we're in our second reading uh for the modifications uh that we've workshopped and discussed at the last
087meeting for governance culture policy 7. Uh at this point um I'm just want to ask whether or not anyone in the public has uh made any inquiries uh or offered any feedback about this policy change. >> I have not received any. >> Neither have I. Uh and so you can see on the screen uh the single uh revision and uh sort of the final wording on the right. I think that all that remains is is to advance a motion to adopt GC7 as presented. >> We can do them together. >> Oh, we could do them together for sure. Uh there >> motion. >> Well, he hasn't done mine. >> Let's uh let's bring up number nine. Thank you. >> That's the one you can see on the screen the uh same uh adjustments that uh
088we made in our workshop for governing culture policy GC9. Um have there been any questions from the public? >> No, there has not. >> Okay. Uh without any questions, then uh we could advance a motion uh to adopt uh the revisions to GC7 and GC9 as presented today. And I'm happy to make that motion. >> Second. >> Director Perkins moves that we advance the revisions to GC7 and GC9 as presented. Seconded by Director Grunwald. All in favor? I >> opposed. So moved. The next item on our agenda is anformational item. Our financial statements for July 2025. That's simply theformational item only. And then next item on our agenda are board comments. I would like to get started by saying I do appreciate everyone who came tonight to speak, to share their stories, and to encourage
089our district and staff to continue to negotiate in good faith. That is what we as a board continue to ask for. We appreciate everything that you do for our students, how hard you work for our students, our families, and our community. And we are continuing to encourage our district to continue to negotiate in good faith. Any other comments? >> Um, yeah, I app, as always, I always appreciate our public comments. It's really the one time when our board meeting is not scripted. I there was a lot of um heartfelt emotion today and I understand that and my prayer is that we get to a agreement that is satisfies everybody involved. Um, yeah, that's that's my hope and prayer. And I know I'm new to this, so um I probably made a mistake or two along
090the way, but I'm learning. So, I will be better prepared next time. And um I yeah don't know if I wanted to correct one thing but I know with the paris um it was mentioned that the first year is IPD plus uh 2% and it was mentioned that there wasn't anything after that but the second year is IPD plus 2% as well. So, I just wanted to just make that correction. Just just want to be factual and we can all argue if that's enough or not. But, um yeah. Um lastly, the um I know it's been mentioned about public records requests and the amount of money we're spending um with the uh legal fees to uh redact those. Um, and I' I'd still love to see some sort of um forum maybe between administration and
091those um asking for those public records requests to >> to get um be able to um get the information out in hopefully other ways that don't require so many public records requests to um be able to knock down that exorbitant number from and maybe even train up our um public records request person to be able to do more of the redacting so it doesn't go to a a legal firm that is much more expensive. So I I'd love to see more work on that. I think that's one area we could save some money because we're averaging about I think it's $30,000 a month. I was a little shocked in February when I realized that. So thank you. Well, I know it's expensive and I thought since and uh you know calling for greater efficiencies, better
092training. Um I agree that'll have to be a subject for another time. Um I want to I guess there's nothing else to say that hasn't been said tonight. Uh I reiterate my appreciation for those who take these difficult jobs and who uh work uh as diligently as you do. Thank you and thank you for bringing your stories today. That's all. >> The time is 6:58 and the board is going into a recess. Thank you. We're adjourned. [Music]