School Board Meeting - January 10, 2023

001foreign good evening thank you for joining us tonight for our board of directors meeting if you'll please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the pledge of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right thank you again for joining us this evening next Is Our Land acknowledgment which will be read by director Perkins Evergreen Public Schools resides on the traditional lands of the chinooken peoples and the Cowlitz tribe they've lived on and cared for this land and its waterways since time immemorial we thank them for their stewardship and make this acknowledgment to open a space of recognition inclusion and respect for all indigenous students families and staff in our community thanks Rob all right

002next on the agenda is a motion to adopt tonight's agenda it will entertain a motion I moved to adopt tonight's agenda is something seconded all in favor say aye aye opposed thank you all right we'll go ahead and move on to a special recognition it happens to be school board appreciation month yes imagine that yes well I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to one of the hardest working groups of Volunteers in the community the Evergreen Public Schools board of directors they're elected by the community to represent the people of the community and the oversight and the direction setting of the schools and we're lucky to have such a dedicated group of individuals who voluntarily give countless hours of each month to fulfill their roles Julie bocanegra Rob Perkins Jenny gronwald

003Vicki Bradford Victoria Bradford and Jackie Weatherspoon deserve all of our thanks on this January 10th during board appreciation month can we give them a round of applause for all that they do but wait there's more PS board directors meet twice each month for a board meeting and they also attend school functions and evening events in addition board members have special projects that they work on outside of schools of the formal board meeting times this school board also devoted several days in August and September to do team building and to discuss how their how they wanted us to move forward and lead the district forward with a new and bold strategic plan with an equity focused centered on students your passion for students in the east Vancouver Community is overall is commendable this board has my

004highest regard their dedicated trustworthy hard-working they do their very best to honor the community needs and desires of our schools thank you very much your countless hours of work are have greatly benefited the students of the entire Evergreen Public School System thank you so much we do have you know being the public entity of the art that we are we we'd love to give you some gold watches but you know we've got some nice printed out um uh certificates to recognize you that you can put on your wall pins or thank you thank you very much thank you thanks John that was really nice anybody have anything they want to add appreciate all of you I agree and uh just really looking forward to this year's work all right well let's go ahead and move

005on into the next part of our agenda we have a presentation Transportation bid award is that Sue that's giving us the presentation yay Sue or the whole team come on up we like it when the whole team comes oh I can plug in but wait no it's mine yeah oh that's nice did you see that okay I'll give you guys this one too if they if more than one person okay and um which do I plug in right here and that'll go roof and then let me go switch it over okay then thank you guys I am Sue Steinbrenner executive director of facilities and I well she's setting that up want to take a minute to express my gratitude for the board I'm coming up on 20 years and I think Vicky Baker the whole

006time but it's been just a real pleasure and a joy to work with you guys so Maybe how do I get it let me just check under here excuse me while we're um while we're doing that I brought our team with us because that's who I really want you to hear from I am going to just go over some of the high points of the design and Michelle from gbd is here with us to help answer any questions that I don't remember um and so we're just going to kind of go over a quick overview there's only a couple of slides I really want you to hear from these guys and what it meant so um if you recall we bid this project or this the transportation project was added back in Via resolution when

007we realized in April of 2021 that we were doing quite well on our bond projects so this is one of our projects we added in addition to Mill Plain and then we just recently select uh went through architect interviews for the music room additions so we started design back in June of 2021 we during that process we realized that there were labor shortages supply chain issues that's really when that really started coming up in that mean time we bid the skilled Trade Center and we're just shocked by the numbers so we were really a little bit worried about what these guys wanted and what we could actually deliver so we developed five alternates which we don't normally like to do because that's just kind of crazy on bid day if you have a bunch of

008alternates that's an opportunity for people to make mistakes but we really wanted to be able to maximize what we were um what we were getting I'll just wing it should I I won't tell a joke um that would not be good anyway so we put our team together we selected gbd um I don't know if you remember Michelle from ASC they also brought a native owned company called Akana because we wanted to start working on in you know getting more diversity in our design process Akana is a like I said a native owned firmed that specializes in transportation design so that was really great um of course we have RNC and then our stakeholders we worked with a bunch of people at Transportation but with these guys pretty consistently in their different areas um we

009I think it was a bit apparently Yvonne is not here but I think it was a bit of a roller coaster for we're used to that projects come in over you got to go back and uh revisit and um so we were kind of used to that but I think it was a bit of a roller coaster for you guys that sometimes hello add comments there we go okay so we've gone over this we we did on the bid results we did get five bids from very qualified firms um that were all really close in the spread there was one outlier that was a little bit higher but the other four were right in the ballpark which tells me our design drawings were Rock Solid it's kind of scary when you get big spreads especially

010when there's a lot of alternates um so we did we did get really good coverage um I'm gonna show you here okay okay so this is the existing plans we had just under 15 000 square feet and really five and a half service based technically there are um six service Bays but the bays are really too small and there's not adequate room for tools and equipment and just a lot of inefficiencies a few well it's probably 10 years ago now we added some reels that little box down on the lower right is an addition that was done I always feel like it was just yesterday but it was a long time ago we added some reels for the shop so that they'd have um what's in those are oil and air and all of that

011kind of stuff um then I will go new plans so we are now at um 25 000 square feet and really the biggest jump is more in the office or in the in the shop areas and that's the part that so we kind of right size the shop they are the new one is um what is it 125 by 25 and the old shops are 84 by 20. so that was really the biggest part of it was to right size the shops in terms of the reels I think we have with the alternate we'll have 12 reels so one at each station with a lot more amenities like a lot more oil I don't know a lot more stuff that they use to work on the buses so less jocking we can fit two full-size

012buses whereas in the old model it was kind of a Model A matter of jockeying buses in and out and trying to to figure it out um we have the three the four alternates that we are recommending tonight the shot adding two shot Bays is 513 000 we recommend that for future growth as you can see there are some of the Bays though they'll fit two buses adding the mezzanine above the shop area so where it says shop manager Office we have the ability to add some additional storage above the mezzanine that was 280 000. the East canopy doesn't show on this slide but over on the east side of the building we want to have just a little canopy they pull the buses in work on things be nice to be able to do

013that out of the rain that was 61 479 but the big one that is on our next slide is alternate for the site circulation so on the left you can see the base bid and we had um you know in the base bid that would work we were going to reuse the Burton parking lot um which has some issues there's some big puddles in fact the New Burton has a big puddle and I told Becky we did that on purpose I thought you liked that we'll have to get rid of that um you know the big issue with the the way it is now is just the queuing time so right now buses are on the west side line up there up the McKinsey Hill up by the warehouse in Evergreen high school so it's

014really one inefficient but it's also a safety issue because we have kids intermingling with the drivers with the alternate we are able to add a traffic signal which is going to increase safety because in the base bid you know you're right by that signal on 136th and I know I've pulled out of there and my little car I can't imagine what it would be like getting out in a bus so there will be a signal we'll be able to control the exiting and it'll be a lot more efficient and minimize the queuing time then we also both plans do have EV infrastructure for six stalls plus a capacity for 10 percent more we've met with Clark PUD and talked about you know the future for um for infrastructure for for the electrical vehicles um that

015is pretty much I really want to turn it over and do you guys have any questions about the design process or part so I really want you to hear from these guys and I don't know lindel if you want to talk or maybe kind of talk about what none of them want to talk aren't aren't having a thing with his throat he can't talk yeah yeah go ahead this project has just meant so much to these guys I really want you to hear from them um I'm Doreen Lane and I'm the supervisor at transportation and I've worked at the transportation department this is my 32nd year and so for 32 years I've worked in the tin can down there and so this is so exciting to be part of helping with the planning stages and

016going forward it's like a legacy for them and to see it come to fruition it's so exciting I've always been proud to work for the transportation department in our reputation that we have in the state and how it's even going to be better with this beautiful building and we can come in and feel proud to be there feel like we matter and I'm excited for the Mechanics for a big shop and I'm excited for our bus drivers having better cueing for them in and out and it's just I'm just so happy I'm thank thankful for Sue and thank you appreciate it thank you for your service yes we took an acting class to make sure you had signed the resolution no I'm just kidding does anyone hi I'm Nicole Jimenez and I'm the training supervisor

017down there so I'm part of you know getting all these people trained behind the wheel and it's a really um our family down there is so important to all of us and having a place that's that we're so proud of we can't even tell you and for us who are we have all of these people who come in and out of you know all of the public who come in there to be trained and have never seen it or done it's going to be so exciting to have all new things like this instead of our old pull down screens and our old you know things like that so we're just really looking forward to being and already are proud of our situation but even prouder so thank you very much um I'm Melissa I'm with

018dispatch and just the space alone is going to make everything more efficient and help us to be better organized so we can be more efficient as well good evening everybody my name is Lindell Grant I'm the assistant director of Transportation and on behalf of our director Yvonne Gaylord who could not be here with us this evening and the entire Evergreen Staff first I would like to share how grateful we are to be a part of this rare opportunity in a vision the positive impact this new facility will have I see a Snowball Effect in the spring of 2024 when our staff rolls into their brand new facility it will be thoughtfully planned intentionally designed I see a Snowball Effect beginning and that snowball would begin to roll they will feel welcome in their new workspace

019and because it has been designed with our specific operations in mind they will be more efficient at what they do this efficiency will roll into increased productivity and reduce stress for all reduce stress will roll into a happier and intrinsically motivated Workforce this happier and intrinsically motivated efficient Workforce will literally roll on their buses into our community sharing a rediscovered passion for their chosen vocations this rediscovered passion will flow into every interaction with every student with every parent and Community member they come in contact with and improving our public relations community members rolling down 28th Street will rarely be bothered and they'll be grinning from ear to ear as our buses utilize that new traffic light controlled access into our compound in this Vision the money and time that we've spent will pay dividends for

020decades to come and in this Vision everyone will live just a little bit happier Ever After thank you all well then I don't know if I would use snowball and transportation in the same word but I think your point was well taken so there is one caveat our bids came in we were surprised we always take bets on what the bids will come in at we will have to move about 2.3 million but we've got that covered in contingency as we're closing out our other projects so I just wanted to be aware of that we were super excited when we when Adam and I put the numbers together we just figured okay this times you know 20 growth or whatever we didn't realize we would get in I feel like we're gonna get so much

021bang for the buck with these numbers um that that's uh I don't think that's in the resolution but we would have to move two points about 2.3 million we have some contingency built in so we may not have to do all of that but just a heads up does anyone have any questions yeah um okay so when do we think we will be under construction and what's our estimated finish date so part of this project involves removing Burton and we are scheduled so assuming you signed the resolution tonight we'll get the contract on board there's a few deliverables we need you know insurance and payment performance you know all of that kind of stuff so I would say by probably early February to Mid early to mid February we'll start mobilizing on Burton tear that

022down and then Transportation will stay in the existing building until the new one is done which will we're hoping is around spring quarter of 2024. spring like spring break I think so it'll be you know we've got kind of staging area we're working through all those Logistics so it'll be a little bit of a hassle for a while but um it would be in in like spring break of 2024. you know I was while you were sharing the design and then um just listening to all of you speak I was thinking about my little two and a half year old grandson who is obsessed with school buses and trash trucks and I could totally when we opened this I could see that being like a key place to take our littlest ones to get them

023all jazzed for school and see the buses and stuff because it'll be a safer you know more appealing place to to have tours for the little guys and so I think it would be so fun I'm excited for you because what's amazing to me because I have been around for a while is how what a superior job you guys do and have done consistently for years in a space that was very challenging to work in and so I'm really really pleased that we're able to to move forward with this project because it is definitely time and so I'm I'm excited about it I think it's going to be super duper fun yeah I agree I think uh I had a chance to tour the facilities and um the break room is just not enough room

024for all of our drivers to be there and so a space for them to be able to take their breaks and relax and collaborate with co-workers is going to be fantastic for everyone and I don't know if you guys realize this but the transportation team does a drive to help people out with um I I ran into them at Cash and Carry and there's Transportation people and they're loading up on stuff to give to their community and people who need it so it's really passionate group of people that really deserve this we had to figure out how many crock pots you could put plug in in the break room hey that's important stuff do they still do they still do the bus rodeo yes okay good because I know you guys have won it so

025many times it's just so it's pretty amazing this has been a great process go ahead around I've had a tour of the old facility as well and thinking that if dispatch gets twice the square footage they have it's probably still too small and so I'm really glad to see the layout um and and the enhancements planned I uh got some feedback over the years about uh parking security and other elements things like that and I wonder if uh the plan has some or if the department has some specific plans for uh some of uh for mitigating some of that people have lost catalytic converters in the park yes we do in fact we just a Metro Watch person in the portable on the south kind of east side right below McKinsey Stadium to be there

026full time to monitor that he's got screens there when there's motion sensed he can go so it's more informed response and he'll be there all night long which is really great Shane participated in the design as well just in terms of Safety and Security because that has been a problem down there I'm speaking of Safety and Security I forgot to mention that while you guys while they were on a tour that I didn't get to go on a bus fell off the lift that it was on so we do also have greater lift capacity I think they were walking through and the guy giving the tour was like oh I gotta run a bus literally fell off the lift so we'll um we'll solve that on this on this one I'm looking forward to the

027new facility it sounds just perfect anyone else no we just I've spent a little bit of time over at the transportation facility with 250 plus buses going out um I've seen the operation and we have one of the biggest fleets I know we have the biggest Fleet in Southwest Washington one of the biggest fleets in the state and Victoria is not wrong when she says that the way the the efficiency of operation the phenomenal job that you all do in increasingly difficult driving circumstances with all the traffic and everywhere I go when I talk to principals they talk about how responsive and and how well you work with them to accommodate students so it's you are well deserved well deserving of this facility enhancement and I'm really pleased that we can deliver it to you

028thank you thank you for being here so as Sue mentioned this will be on our superintendent consent agenda for approval all right so next up is our board consent agenda we'll entertain a motion for approval move adoption of the board's consent agenda is presented second uh it's been rude in second in all in favor say aye aye opposed all right and the next up is the superintendent consent agenda I move that we approve the superintendent's consent agenda as presented second in all in favor say aye aye opposed thank you all right next on our agenda we have a couple of items under matters reserved for board action the first one is our ratification of collective bargaining agreement between Evergreen Public Schools and the Public School Employees of Evergreen which is our large group so I

029am going to turn this one um John did you want to introduce this topic for us yes we um came to a tentative agreement with our PLC Group which includes our the folks that you saw here are instructional para Educators our maintenance folks our many of our classified people across the district and they ratified the agreement so the agreement is in front of you for your approval all right thank you so we will go ahead and open it up for discussion for the board I guess I'll just start off by saying um because I know that we worked on this for several months and probably in the last spring and into this fall and I just want to thank our team at the district for working so tirelessly on this and making sure that um

030we had all the components that were a good good fit for all the employees I also want to thank everyone who came to um what a handful of school board meetings and advocating for their fellow employees and their teammates and we listened and we came to an agreement that I think that is beneficial to all thank you second what Julie said I uh the the testimony that people brought forward and connection with the uh with the contract negotiations uh actually showed that we have stories that can inform all the numbers that we use in advocacy uh and we have people who are willing to talk about that and as we get into that I I find I'm going to need them uh for the federal relations Network visit and then later on when we're doing

031the the advocacy over the legislative session having those stories and connecting those stories to the numbers um will be much more persuasive and much more impactful than if Just One of Us goes into a legislator's office and show some numbers and doesn't have the stories and so even though it was but I want to say completely amicable all the time to hear those hard things we know about them and we can uh we can use that in our advocacy to raise the circumstance of uh the employees who serve our kids exactly yeah all right anything else any other comments from the board all right well then at this time uh we will go ahead and entertain a motion for approval I move for ratification of the collective bargaining agreement between Evergreen Public Schools and Public

032School Employees of Evergreen large group second it's been moved and seconded all in favor say aye aye aye opposed all right thank you all right next up for matters reserve for board action is our uh to appeal the hearing decision for the IMC book challenge uh this was brought forth to us at our last board meeting we went ahead and tabled it during that discussion so our entire board could be here I'm going to turn this over to superintendent Boyd for a little bit of background because this one again has gone on for a while happy to give it last spring we had a parent come forward with a concern about a particular book and the book is 47 by Walter Mosley a hearing was they formally there was a formal appeal of the a

033book asking for the book to be removed the IMC the instructional materials committee that's the body that um that hears decisions related to books they voted to remove the book from the seventh grade library and seventh grade classrooms and so they moved to um the parent appealed the book they the IMC voted I think 10 to 2 or 14 to 2 or something to remove the book from the library so then we had um an appeal to the board related to the decision of the IMC to remove the book and so the board's job is to either uphold the decision of the IMC or overturn it John just to clarify the decision was to remove it from the classroom libraries not the school library correct that is correct okay but it's in the main School

034library it is it is in the Maine school library I'm seeing the head nods in the in the audience thank you John so we'll go ahead and open it up for questions and discussion amongst the board and so it's being removed from the seventh grade shelves libraries until it's determined that it's appropriate or not or has it already been determined and so what does that process look like thank you and I know this is a weighty decision as we um you know what our students have access to reading it's very important and near and dear to us um our instructional materials committee as superintendent Boyd stated voted 11 out of 14 to remove it from the seventh grade classroom libraries so in the meantime our team is crafting a plan to ensure that teachers know

035how to deliver this kind of content in a culturally responsive way um so it doesn't mean that it will never return to seventh grade classrooms it could mean that it may return at the eighth grade or the ninth grade or the 10th grade level that is under review and so I can have our team come back and give you a timeline and some more details about the process but that's the context under which it's being reviewed to make sure that when we do deliver such materials is delivered in an appropriate way through the IMC the committee yes so you mentioned that it was being reviewed to come back not to seventh grade or or that was still being decided we're still looking at it is it appropriate and which grade level is it appropriate for

036so and I apologize because I wasn't here for any of the discussions on this I was out of town but um it fell it felt from the information that I have it feels like we have kind of two things happening we have that the removal of the book from the seventh grade classrooms yes is it only the seventh grade classrooms at this point okay so only the seventh grade classrooms but it's still in the rest in the Library main library and in eighth grade I assume eighth grade um but then we also kind of what brought us to the challenge of the book I think from my understanding I feel like the process maybe either wasn't followed or it or it needs to be revised um you know we I know personally I have um

037some pretty strong feelings about book Banning just in general um but I also know that certain books need to be age-appropriate um and but I also know when you start getting especially when you start getting into middle school and high school there's a wide range of how different students are going to receive information um and so the questions that are coming to my mind is one how do we have this wide Rich range of literature for our students and some of these topics are really hard but they also you know I trust our teachers to be able to guide our students in those discussions about really hard things but I also believe pretty strongly in that if a student and their parent feels like they're it's either triggering or it's they're not ready for this

038conversation or whatever that we want to have an Avenue for them to maybe have another piece of literature that can get them where they need to be academically and have good discussion but still not be offensive or challenging for that particular child that's right absolutely and that is typical or that is the standard practice in terms of you know if a family finds material offensive they can appeal to the teacher and ask for alternate material or make make those arrangements I think there were a unique set of circumstances around this particular book and so we're stepping back to ensure that all parties are aware of what our procedures are while also looking at the content and is it you know grade level appropriate for our for our students so I just want to clarify because

039um from what I understood from the beginning of this challenge was that this was a it was a free free choice book right like there was I don't know how exactly it works but if there's 20 kids in the class and then they each pick a book and they're all reading their own separate book it wasn't like five kids were going to read one of the same book and another five kids were reading one of the same or the whole class wasn't reading the same book it was they were just all choosing a book off the library classroom Library shelf and I think that's kind of where some of the the issues were raised like was this Choice was it implemented as Choice when the student um decided that this is something I didn't want

040to read how was that managed and you know um what support did the teacher or the substitute in question actually have in that moment and so that's part of why we're having to revisit this and why I believe it's it's risen to this level and so then is the vote we're about to take upholding the decision to remove it from the shelves and review it or not is that what we're voting on specifically right yeah I think so a vote in favor would be to keep the decision as is correct while they're reviewing it and so what the review would not happen if we put it back on the shelves no I think the review is happening anyways right or or so okay so your vote tonight is to either uphold the IMC decision to

041remove it from this the shelves the seventh grade shelves or to reverse that decision and to put it back in those classrooms so then um the idea of the review is not really part of so either way if it remains in our classrooms or if it's removed we will continue to review it and make sure that our Educators can deliver the instruction appropriately and currently the goal is to have it off shelves until you determine until we determine that so did I um I just want to rephrase something that came up that the book is still in classroom libraries in Middle School like eighth grade classroom libraries what we're talking about is an IMC decision surrounding only the classroom libraries for the seventh grade it is still in the school library okay it is not

042in the seventh grade library right and still in the great classroom seventh and eighth grade and if the teacher teaches 7th and eighth grade and they you know it would not be available to those eighth grade students because it wouldn't be in the classroom they'd have to go to the library School library library okay so okay I have so many questions um okay so on this review do we have a timeline as to when the book will be reviewed and when can the board expect a report back about what so that we can maybe revisit whether it goes back into the classroom or not we should have a decision to you about whether or not this book should go back in the classroom by the end of the summer that way it'll be ready for

043implementation in the fall and the support that accompanies it and by that time ideally the grade level that it's appropriate for can you also update me on what were what was the reasoning that the IMC had for pulling it what was it about the book that made them feel like it wasn't appropriate for maybe for seventh graders um I would have to probably pull like the notes in the detail report but overall there were some strong language and strong content um that some thought was a little mature for seventh grade um and uh given what the complainant brought forth really wanting to take that into consideration and how we would manage that if we keep it at seventh grade or if we just bump it up to another level so there there were there were

044language considerations I believe there was some very graphic content when violence and that kind of thing in the book as well so when when the student has the opportunity to choose the book any book in an ideal in the classroom um setting is there some kind of a list of the books that they can pick from and does it have kind of any descriptors or any kind of things that say you know language you know some kind of like heads up about it so that a parent and a student would be able to go uh I don't know if that's for me or right you know or a parent might want to look into it more or say you know just anything like that so that there's some kind of yeah like Amazon you know

045yeah right like you see on when you go on there yes so um I know that or I can't remember the policy name but I know that there's some policy that talks about if something is um you know higher than G-rated we definitely need to send um information home to parents to let you know um this is the material that will be reviewing in class let us know your objections and um likewise in our syllabi that teachers send home um they identify typically the reading materials that they'll be going over in that trimester or semester um typically before unit of a controversial text you know a message or some you know things are sent home to families what we're trying to ensure though that business standard practice so part of our work is to ensure

046that that happens more consistently because sometimes if you've been doing this and you've been teaching these things for years and not necessarily having some of the the recent you know discussion and controversies some it's easy for some of those practices to kind of following take for granted that your your curriculum is um clear as it stands but we realize we're in a day and age right now that we really have to be particular and cautious and very clear so families can make decisions about the materials that their child gets to read so this the the review that we're doing won't just be about 47 it will be yes and it will be just in general how are we to approach these materials and make sure our leaders and our teachers have those procedures pretty explicit

047in their practice so my question was going to be then on because um every book has an age rating right and so um and I would imagine that our who however our books were being chosen for our libraries or our classroom libraries they're we're trying to find a wide variety of diverse books for our classrooms and so yeah I guess how are they going to choose those because every I mean there's thousands of books and so it would almost be impossible for us to go through every one and determine if it's if the rating that it's given is not the right rating yeah and you know in part that's why we have um our adoption processes that you know um give teachers and staff guidance on you know what the the criteria are and using

048what's recommended from the national organizations um in terms of content and that's also why we have the instructional materials why don't we do that if it was classroom curriculum not necessarily just a library book or a book of choice if I go into the library and I pick out a book that every book in the library hasn't gone through every book on the classroom shelf for me to pick off there and enjoy to read is not part of it hasn't gone through IMC review right and that was where this book this category of this book right well this this book was actually in the classroom library and yeah but the teacher was using it as a part of the curriculum so that remember this decision is really about um it says that the teachers are

049not using the book currently in instruction so it's still an option in the library so the a student wouldn't be um wouldn't be required to select this this textbook that would be a conversation with our media Specialists who do a pretty thorough job of vetting materials and working with students to see what their interests are and helping students understand well the content of this book and what they what they can expect so that's working in concert with our media Specialists but in as far as curriculum and instruction goes we're we're pausing that in the classrooms right now to make sure that students don't feel pressured or families don't feel required to do to to use this material so had it gone through IMC committee review I guess that's we all had this one is part

050part of the book selection yeah that's a good question I can I don't have that answer I can definitely go find out what the you know how how it came to be in our libraries for sure I can is it's a classroom set it was a position to supplemental material or is a main curricular um in this case it was supplemental because the students again it was you know part of some choices they had in the classroom which is a different process than when we adopted fontness and panel yeah I guess that would be my question though so it it wouldn't go through it wouldn't go through IMC it wouldn't go through IMC and so that's why I'm saying there could be hundreds of books in the same situation and so we're selecting them based

051on ratings and making sure we have a right diverse collection and remember the key here is making sure that we follow our protocols when these students select these books correct and it feels to me like that's where it wasn't necessarily so much about the book it was more about if the process wasn't followed but that's not what we're voting on yeah we're voting on whether or not we're going to uphold the decision of the um the challenge right but it may not had we had the process been followed with Fidelity we probably wouldn't be having a challenge is my is the way I'm kind of viewing it is that and I can't necessarily speak to that but um okay yeah you know this one's one that's challenging in that there's a lot in play and

052so many things that we all don't know because right we just don't know and until it's really research I'd be very curious I hope I'm not putting anybody on the spot but I'd be really curious what our student Representatives if they have just any off the cuff thoughts if you don't it's okay because this is kind of a Sticky Wicket this little conversation dude my mind hi hello um so from the information I know about this situation um I hear that the student who had the problem with this book came to their teacher and said you know I don't like this book and then went to their parents and and that's just my knowledge I might be wrong but um when I think of that in a situation like that um I want to hear

053the teacher say oh sweetie I'm like the the teacher and student relationship I want to hear the teacher say sweetie I'm so sorry this makes you uncomfortable how about you go talk to our school counselor while I talk to some Administration or try to figure this out see if we can um edit this and make this appropriate for you or just comfortable for you and I think that um the student to teacher relationship could really um be a big piece here absolutely thank you all right do we have any other questions for Dr Williams Victoria I know you have lots of questions oh my gosh well you know what everybody's got really great points on this on this situation and my personal belief about this is I don't want to pull a book that a

054student may miss out on a really amazing learning experience but I also on the other hand I'm not going to force a kid to do something that's going to be really uncomfortable and could possibly be detrimental to just their state of mind um so I think and I hate to do this because I'm not usually one who rides the fence on this I think I could be possible above I could vote to uphold it if we had a definitive end to the review with very a very clear picture as to why or why not this book should or shouldn't be in that classroom I definitely want to make sure that it's still available within the main library and in the older grades have access to it um in their classroom collections um so I that's

055kind of where I'm going but but I'm doing it against my better judgment in a way because there's just so many weird things about this one because I don't like the idea I'm I'm a I think it's a slippery slope when you start just start pulling books because one person doesn't like it but I also um don't want any student to feel like they're being forced to read something that's really hard emotionally for them to deal with it because and we have a lot of kids with a lot of different types of triggers that could you know and and we and I want it to be age-appropriate so that's I know if does that sound like I'm like what I hear both sides is it okay if I paraphrase so what I hear you saying

056the deadline of when we the decision will be made about what grade it's appropriate for um and what the plan is um will help you feel a lot more comfortable about upholding the decision okay no go ahead uh what you're saying Victoria is is really similar to some of the ways that I put it last time is that I I don't like to ban books not even books that might offend me uh the contents of this book contain appalling levels of language and brutal violence and so it's worth reviewing but at the same time it's a story that I could easily see very specifically teaching my kids and us having conversations about that as a family I don't think it could ever be read aloud in a school that's that's not nothing that's not nothing

057um but by hearing that the book is still in the school and that there are uh trained and compassionate teacher Librarians who can recommend or warn the only thing left for me would be that review um in order to affirm the IMC because if that really was the thinking of the IMC um I'd be on board with it but last time I also talked about could we yeah could we make the the content warnings or descriptions or age ranges available to parents maybe not even on demand but just to offer it to them it's like these are the books that and that's making a lot of lists and I know that's a lot of work but maybe it's it's necessary it's timely and necessary yeah especially for things that are explicit in certain ways or

058could be ver could be controversial or could you know like this one has a lot of interesting things in it so I think it and it's nothing against the student that this wasn't good for that particular student at all it wouldn't be for every student I just look at my own two kids and they're vastly different and which one would have been ready for something like that before the other one at the same age so um but I do think we need to make sure that a student is clear of what they're walking into when they pick a book and um and a parent if they're you know helping their student make selections for for re their choice reading I agree Jenny right so I I said it last meeting and I'm going to say

059it again tonight I it goes against every fiber in my being to remove a book for any reason books teach us so much um and I feel like once we remove it even if from a classroom Library it's the beginning of hundreds more and I understand that to me if it wasn't and it obviously it had been through some sort of review when we picked the book initially and put it in our classroom libraries we had because I think one we heard last time that you know we've uh we don't want to go against what the IMC because we our committee did the work and they voted against it but the thing is we had a group of people who picked these books originally for a reason for our students I look up the book

060The reading age is 12 years and up um I think maybe having some labels and some things on our books about what what the con kind of like Victoria said about what Amazon does here's a synopsis of what it's about here's the age level um and we do a better job of if a student says I don't this book is not appealing to me I really want to pick another book absolutely we find another book that is going to help that student learn um but I I can't do it so I'm I get it totally yeah um because I'm ha I'm having a lot of heartburn about it I think it once we remove it doesn't come back and I and I appreciate the work that would be because it's gonna be a lot of

061work a lot of work to go through and make sure that we have all of the things on these books because we have to sometimes unless we're going to read every book in our library it's going to take a lot of effort to go through unless we're using what's out there it's already published about these books like for age and what the synopsises are one of the things that is a little and I can't believe I'm going to say this because it's like opening Pandora's box but normally when you I mean it's been so long since we've had any kind of a book challenge of any I mean we just don't get them and it's certainly not been anything of controversy for sure um and in today's climate um it's you know we're seeing districts

062all over the country having challenges and they're pretty brutal so I'm grateful we're not in that situation with with this situation but it does beg the question if this is such a if this warrants all of this discussion and all of all of this decision making and we're we're feeling incredibly conflicted about it um for various reasons but nobody's here really advocating or not one way or the other for this book you know so I almost feel like can can we have can we have as a way that the book gets reviewed without pulling it and knowing that it's kind of under review that we just make sure on that particular book which we should do anyway is make sure that it's very clear what the challenges might be with this book for some students

063I don't know is that being a bad board member to ask because I I don't want to add layer upon layer of work onto people but my my personal kind of normal way I feel is very similar to what how Julie is and I know there's probably going to be some things coming down the pike and there will be a packed room in here and so I don't want to to be um I want to stand in our truth about what we believe about books and even the controversial books as long as they are age-appropriate and our students and our parents do have the right to opt out on something that could be not good you know that they're not ready for I'm I'm fine with that okay so Jamila actually worked with the family

064that brought the the band book I mean the the challenge forward so okay hello I'm gonna hand this to you um so a couple of things I want to add to the conversation and I am I too close you're just too dynamic I understand the challenge around and the conflict intention about removing instructional materials from the classroom and I think that in this situation I think what we have stated as our vision is that we want to eliminate disproportionality and so when this book challenge was brought forth It's because it was having a disproportionate impact on a particular demographic of students and that's black students and one of the things that was important for me to be able to support this black family was to be able to say to them that if you're experiencing

065something that's making you feel like your humanity is being diminished that's being deprioritized that I would do something as a leader in this District to be vocal about that and so I understand that there's tension but the reality is that sometimes we have to make decisions and center the voices and center the perspectives of the people who are marginalized and that's what I know that this district is working to move towards and I understand it's hard to make those decisions sometimes and it's hard to stand in them because we do have to worry about the blowback and the consequences and all of the things and I understand that you're weighing all of that very critically but I just want to make sure that to say that we also have to Center the perspective of the

066marginalized and I would not put this book in front of my black nieces and nephews at 12 all the way up to 18. because as a black person who is a descendant of slaves it is incredibly traumatizing to have to read that kind of account without conversation without discussion without Community around you it it's hurtful and so I understand that maybe that isn't something that other people experience who are not black when they read that book but I stand here in front of you as a black educator and woman that has a family from Louisiana and we have slavery in our in our ancestry and it hurts it feels different and so I understand that we need to think about banning books and I from what I understand about the decision from the IMC this

067book is not being removed from Evergreen and so we have to be really specific with our language we're not Banning a book we're just moving it out of the access for this group of students so we are moving it out of the access until and if this is you know the decision and discussion the curriculum instruction team needs to have we can provide a classroom environment that has community that supports students to be able to have this conversation about this level of brutality and dehumanization in a way that doesn't leave a child feeling isolated left alone and marginalized and continuing to perpetuate what's already true for a lot of our black students who only are three percent of our school district and it's very important that we think about that three percent as we're making

068these choices so I just want to make sure to put that in front of us because I think that that's actually what we're trying to work towards in terms of our beliefs and our vision around eliminating the disproportionate impact on students I appreciate that input I really do um it was something while I was reading that made me thoughtful as well is oh just you know flexing into that space a little bit as families who have those stories in their past don't need Walter mostly story they've got the truth yes right um yeah yeah and I think it's happening with me as a white woman but also having biracial children you know I I'm always kind of like making sure that their needs are getting met because of my white lens that I look through

069so but I and I'm also and this maybe is just my own political mind thinking um about what's probably coming down the pipe for us because I have heard some of these arguments in Reverse sure you know what I'm talking about it's the whole anti-crt thing it's the whole it's going to hurt our white kids kind of a thing and I can't get behind that that belief because I know our students of color they live with it every day so if our white kids can have to be a little uncomfortable sometimes well that's we've got to be able to manage that for all of our kids and so I'm really I'm really so torn because I don't want to do anything that would traumatize any kid I mean I mean that's the last thing I

070would want to do and so I'm just trying to um wrap my head around how do I say take it away from the whole class when I probably would never make that decision in another type of book that maybe somebody that looks like me would be all offended by is that so one of the things that'll help me just because I don't I'm really having a hard time yeah I hear I hear you tell me that's what I said I understand the tension that we're that we're sitting in in this decision and one of the things that we talk a lot about in our Equity inclusion work is we want to uphold dignity and so we have talked about this and and developing the equity operational expectation and that it's it's less about respect but

071it's it's dignity that every human being is born and worthy of dignity period so we don't advocate for any book that's going to have a child feeling like their dignity is being violated and so there is a framework for dignity and one of the first elements that we talk about in developing a culture of dignity and belonging is that we want to make sure that we can accept identity and so we do think that it's important for our white students to understand their history and not to feel like we're not accepting their identity as white humans like and the same thing is true for our black students and in this situation what I'm trying to name for you is the way that that book portrays the black body and the way that that book creates

072imagery around the humanity of a black person it's a VI it's a violation of dignity if you're not able to discuss and debrief and unpack it of it's really just a demonstration of violence in front of your face about the black body and and that family had a visceral reaction to that and as a as a support for all of our students here but with a particular compassion for black students I think it's important for us to listen to that that violation of dignity is is happening and taking this book and setting it aside there are so many other opportunities for students to learn about history without it have to be so brutal and visceral um so I think the book would be better as a class discussion book I wouldn't want to read the

073words out loud myself but at least then there's an opportunity to discuss it that's not what this book is this book is a is a small group read where students are supposed to actually Talk Amongst each other about the book which they're actually not set up to do that that would be difficult I mean imagine for a black child to be the only black child in the classroom and this is the book that is being discussed and they're also still hearing these types of words being used in our society right now the n-word they're seeing the brutality of the black body on the news and then they have to go to school and pick up this book yeah it it was beyond discomfort we have a spectrum and there's a difference between discomfort and a

074violation so I I think it's important for us to think about that as we think about the future and I also will say one other piece around this for all of us I think yes we have to make decisions about the future we have to keep the future in mind but we're making a decision also in the present with these children who are in front of us right now and making sure that the experience that they're having right now is better thank you for being so honest about it and it's really helping inform all of us I'm sure as to you know how we want to proceed with this I I do appreciate it because I found it difficult to read myself just it was just heart you know it's heartbreaking but I've read a

075lot of things that are pretty heartbreaking and and I don't we just it's that balance between acknowledging the truth without re-terrorizing the peop the students now does that make sense it does it does and one of the strategies that I know is at in application and the curriculum is around windows and mirrors and so I think in this situation there's a difference for a black student it's a mirror it's not a window and for other students who are listening to the way that it's described it's a window and I think we're trying to weigh out where winner prioritize are we going to prioritize giving more of our decision towards the window or towards the mirror that's a good way and in this situation it's a it's a it's a mirror that's deficit oriented that's brutal

076and it's not something that I think most of us would put in front of our children and I consider all of the children in this District my children I would definitely stand here in front of you and Advocate that you uphold this decision thank you so much for speaking it it places for me it places the uh question um along a different Spectrum than Banning not Banning or how books are shelved and speaks to the compassion that we've also directed our staff to have um I want to say that if the book is maintained in the school library then we have not banned a book it's still in the school it's being curated by a teacher librarian it might come up in book talks but it wouldn't be if we uphold the IMC decision then

077it sounds like it wouldn't be used in curriculum in a way that creates a mirror versus the window it also in asking the question that I asked earlier about what was the reasoning behind the decision that's what I would have liked to have heard that was the reasoning so what it's telling me is we still and we all know this that we have a long way to go because personally I would hope that a teacher who has an awareness about what we're talking about would have said you know this might not be a good choice this time for this student or these students or what I mean that are we are our teachers or or just our schools in general looking at each book that's there for our students and looking at it through that

078that lens that is their dignity maintained you know just all the different things that Jamila was talking about um we probably have some stuff to do and like Julie said there's a lot of books out yes there's a lot of books because I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you when I read this book I think it was last summer I asked we were at a board meeting and I had just finished reading the book and I asked Dr Williams about the challenge because I had no idea who was bringing it forth because I thought there was probably about five different reasons why somebody might want to bring forward this book so that's kind of where I'm at and what my point is is that I could pick up any book probably in the entire world and

079find something in the context that somebody might not agree with and that's where I feel like what what are we going to do moving forward when we have that I do can I also just again add to the context and I just you know per your comments um director Broken Arrow just bring jamila's comments back about the family the context in the moment though when we're talking about our teachers this was a substitute teacher who um you know made these decisions and did these things and did may not have understood our protocols all of those kinds of things so again that it's part of the reason we need to make sure we really go back and um clarify what happens when a substitute is in the room those kinds of things right so we we

080have to take the full context in I think yesterday we were in a training and Clarissa will come up during tle update with um one of our trainers who talked about exactly what Jamila just did bring in marginalized voices to the center right how do we Center the experience of the students and family that brought this issue forward and use that as we go back and fix how we do this so that we don't harm our our families any further than we already have in the context in the light of oh yes we are worried about what will happen in terms of this being permanently removed but they're not asking that this be permanently removed this isn't banned like you said this is this gives our our team time to make sure things are put

081into place so we can do that Community Building do that skill building that is needed to hold this space well so we can talk about you know whatever the context is as long as it's great appropriate I also feel like on a book like that and there's a you know we have other books that are can be challenging in that way um I do think that that if those are those to me feel like the kind of books that should be guided by a teacher to have these conversations to help a student be able to articulate who might be the student looking in the mirror versus the one looking through the window and I mean I can see where a student would have a really difficult time talking about that even one looking through the

082window because it's you know at that age those are just like topics that they're usually chit chatting about and especially in a classroom with you know so there's that piece that's got me a little concerned about when do we have it be guided by someone who knows how to guide them through it versus just letting them read it on their own and then hope for the best and and that's the work of the team that's something that I I think would help me um with this situation I'm with Julia not Banning the book you know under the true definition of banning but I am willing to have work done to get us to a point where this book would introduce to a student is going to be introduced to a student in a way that

083can they can someone will facilitate the conversation and what that looks you know the appropriate way to make that work does that make I think so but so we we probably need a motion at some point I don't know if we have any further discussion do you have any other no I mean I probably could go on all night but no I won't Rob do you have anything else I don't think so Jenny do you have anything you want to add no I used I made all my comments at the last board meeting for me we uh Jacqueline be good okay I feel really reassured that upholding the imc's decision will not ban the book uh in fact I'm a little more assured because it's uh behind the curating process of the teacher librarian that

084way and and can be targeted at the few 12 year olds who really can handle this material and really you you really use it as a Windows I might have been at the age of 12. um tremendous learning opportunity and also so many ways to teach that um so what are we thinking is that the motion I think somebody needs to make a motion so uh because we'll need to move forward we have to we're going to take a vote and so the decision for us to make is whether we uphold the decision of the IMC book challenge and so I think that would be can we amend the motion oh yeah to include a um time for review that will be looped back to the board with a really clear idea of what's going

085to happen with this book that way we know you know as far as what is decided that once you've reviewed it looked at how it's used looked at our procedures and maybe any modifications that need to be made that we come back to this book but in the meantime it stays in the library it stays in the classrooms that have older kids if you know if they're using it in there so oh I still kind of you know so the the decision was to have it removed from seventh grade classroom libraries only and that's what we're voting on that's that's what the motion that's what we need to make a motion on and we can amend it in any way that could we imagine to say that it's removed temporarily from the seventh grade classroom

086but then we're not upgrading IMC the motion could be to emotion could be to uphold the imc's decision uh pending a review by senior leadership about the process of supplemental material selection and also to direct the superintendent to schedule an update for us later on in the calendar year thank you Rob that's the motion so so moved I'll second that okay it's been moved and seconded to uphold the decision of the IMC with the review and an update later on this year Okay so all in favor say aye aye aye opposed yay I just want to commend the board for one all of you read the book all of you really thought deeply and thoroughly you asked really good questions about that thank you for uh Jamila Singleton and our TLD staff come and clarify

087that and so we're proud of the decision making that we did today thank you for really deeply thinking about this issue I just want to add one thing I did vote against it however I am in favor of the review that was never the a problem for me I always wanted the review and making sure our process is sound in the classroom moving forward it's really about the removing of any book for me and I do appreciate the input that we received tonight and helping us guide through our decision because I think it's very important thank you for that okay let's move on superintendent report it was yeah just a quick couple of things one we had the Burton ribbon cutting earlier this week that was phenomenal um and I had the privilege of being

088able to say let's go cut the ribbon and note to self don't ever ask a room full of uh element a closed gem full of elementary students to make some noise uh here I might have made a couple of kids cry it was so loud um but it was wonderful the school I had a chance today to do my regular visit there and they are just uplifted by that facility absolutely uplifted and um excited and that was a wonderful thing to be able to do and then I had during my school visits I'm doing empathy interviews with students and I go in and ask some questions open-ended questions to really learn um what's happening in the experience and the lives of students and staff and one young man one of the questions I asked I

089said if you had a magic if you have a magic wish what would you change about school he said absolutely nothing are you kidding me we have a second floor so he was so excited about that um very cute they're they're so excited about that school and and what's happening there um I mean we've we've moved forward with uh implementing the uh timeline for our budget reductions as you know we've talked about a figure of 15 20 million dollars needing to reduce of course we had the work session with the board and our Union partners and we've spent some time uh reviewing you know reviewing the situation with our principals and we'll have some ongoing Communications to our staff coming up as well as a thought exchange for our whole Community to get some input

090related to the budget as we uh the the budget reductions uh moving forward so we're implementing the timeline we'll come back and continue to review we'll put those on your board updates weekly so you understand what's happening we're building a website actually the website is built and we're building the pieces to it with uh CFO Jennifer Jacobson's presentation she did it on a zoom and we recorded it for the public we are putting our guiding Prince pulls up and really being as open and transparent as we can about the whole budgeting process for our community to be able to get down into a more deeper level if they choose to do so so stay cooler feedback with through thought exchange working with our principals connecting with our Union partners of course through the board back

091and forth leading up to a decision so we can hit our contact contractual timelines moving forward so and that is my report thank you John all right next up is teaching and learning an equity Department update good evening again okay okay so tonight for our teaching learning and Equity update I wanted to give you a bit of a summary of where we are with our strategic planning work um as you know we've been working with Dr Tammy Campbell and she's helped us craft a a vision and as work walking us through a whole process to unpack this uh strategic plan that was started last year you'll see the first pillar that we've been focused on is teaching and learning and then what has come to fruition especially through talking to some of our students and

092stakeholders we are also addressing some of the items that are mentioned in school environment especially the piece where it says everyone will feel safe and welcome for who they are anywhere in the school so this year our focus is on how are we operationalizing the Strategic plan and so to put things in motion we're working with the scholar first and we have these various teams so we have a district steering team that you see up there and we meet pretty regularly to make sure that we have the framework and timeline and print things in place and really that's Lori stroll whipping us into shape and making sure all our eyes are dotted and T's are crossed um really keeping us on track so that we are follow up follow through and get those tasks done

093we have our district leadership team which is which of course is a superintendent cabinet principals and you'll just see as you go down this list various iterations of stakeholders various sizes to try to get multiple perspectives and multiple voices involved in this process and of course we have students who have been informing the process Clarissa in particular has done the work of really making sure that we have student voice informing this process as well and of course then there's you as a school board and so we have your petition some of you participating in this as well and so this just identifies more about who those people are and if you have a highlight that means you are involved in more than one group and really just helping us pull this together but you'll see

094there's a range we have Elementary we have secondary we have teachers we have classified staff we have administrators we have district office we have so many of us involved in this process because it's important that we have each perspective that we as we develop such an important plan for our system and so up here is our status update and Dr Campbell's like make sure they see the status update that we are working we have things in progress up there and So eventually those items will turn green but we do have a student informed vision of excellence and we are working on our core values because it's going to be our core values like we just discussed when we were talking about that book Challenge and we're really trying to Center who's important and how do

095we hold people accountable to serving each and every one of our students responsibly that that shows up in our values so we're doing some some deep work around that we have our central office theory of action in motion we're actually going to meet with Dr Campbell next week with those teams to continue to refine what those steps are those strategies for our theories of action and so on and so we will continue to to work our way through this timeline so that we can launch this plan in June and so again this based off of our our vision for Evergreen Public Schools where it says each person in Evergreen Public Schools Community is welcome included empowered a member of our school district and works together towards Student Success notice that's highlighted know that there's an

096arrow there because we've needed to really unpack what do we mean what do we mean when we talk about Student Success and so that work has resulted in these I am statements and I definitely would love to hear from Sullivan and Covenant at some point about when we look at these vision statements is this is this the experience we want for our students in Evergreen Public Schools and so the team again with input from the stakeholders that Clarissa and and the rest of us have been working with there has been consensus around these six statements I am my true self at school and I am loved I belong I am seen heard and empowered I see myself and others reflected in our learning and in our school I'm eager to learn set goals and work

097toward my dreams I am an independent learner who knows what I am learning and why I am learning it and ultimately I thrive academically this is the result we are hoping for each and every one of our Learners when they leave Evergreen Public Schools and this is how our students rank them so our students were able to look at those six statements and those five statements and identify which ones they thought were most important and notice they they want to really engage in the learning and set goals and know what they're learning and why and so when we look at this process this isn't necessarily a new idea Evergreen has had strategic plans and so forth before but we this year are doing a version of it a slice of improvement through the math Focus

098that we have this year so as you can see we've been working and reporting to you through our sip supports we have a vision for what math learning looks like each student will make sense of rigorous mathematics and ways that are meaningful uh oh somebody else wants to join the conversation each student will make sense of rigorous mathematics and ways that are meaningful collaborative and relevant in order to ignite curiosity and passion for mathematics so again being clear about what is our vision how do we want our students to learn and feel while they're learning and then we can't forget this goal and the pencils because um you know this this is one of the indicators that we are on the path of creating success for our students you know 13 isn't the end game

099but it's it's an indicator letting us know whether or not we are on track and then our theory of action so again mirroring very much what we are already doing in our strategic planning process we have a theory of action for how we are elevating mathematics and you'll be hearing a little bit more about that at the end of the month we'll have a couple schools who weren't able to present at the school Improvement meeting in November they'll come out and share a little bit about what they're doing with their school Improvement plan at the end of the month we get our principals are turning in a mid-year status update how are the students doing based on all the efforts that we're putting in what do we know so far and what are we going

100to continue to do in order to help our students Reach the the ambitious goals that we have set for them what was really neat today we met with our elementary team and this was uh probably a learning session like no other what we did our amazing curriculum instruction team designed a lesson where we gave them time to actually plan with our instructional leadership team and principals pushed into Elementary classrooms teaching math lessons and I had the opportunity to go over to Crestline and watch Nick Hansen teach fourth grade math and it was it was a hoot and students loved it and just to have our principles really experience firsthand what's happening with the curriculum and some of the the challenges and opportunities with that so that as they're working and supporting our teachers and our

101Learners they have a more authentic experience in terms of of supporting them so I'm just really proud of the work that the team is doing to really dig in and learn what is really working well with students the focus over at Crestline was around discourse our students articulating their understanding and thinking not just stating answers I think it was one of the first times I've seen students just stay with the the concept of a problem before rushing to just give the answer and so really thoughtful work around conceptual understanding happen and it's all living inside of this theory of action that we're trying to execute as a system and Dr Campbell's pushing us that at each level so as a district District staff building leadership and in the classroom what are we doing to make

102sure we're all playing a role so we talked about how the first of the week here at district office we're sitting around the table deciding what support do schools need around their sips then we are working with principals and then we're actually with them in the classrooms like we were today just following every layer of the organization to make sure we're doing the work and likewise with the Strategic plan that's our next step as we think strategically and holistically what ultimately do we want for our student experiences and outcomes what are those action strategies what's what's going to happen for our teachers at the classroom level what's going to happen for the building leaders and again what are our practices at the central office so this is the work that our strategic plan team has

103been up to and again with a little parallel with how it relates to what we're doing this year in math and a little bit about our next steps we will finalize our core values like I mentioned earlier we'll continue the work around the theory of action and we actually have a strategy team for each of the pillars forming where Dr Campbell's asked for about 20 stakeholders per pillow so we'll have over 80 stakeholders identifying best practices and strategies to ensure that we're really we're really aiming toward those goals and then of course we will continue to finalize and operationalize the plan that we saw earlier in terms of the timeline and status updates what questions may I answer about the Strategic plan process a few slides back you had a vision and mission statement on

104the screen were those the statements that were developed in 2021 or they had some refining since then through this work the Student Success part was added okay but other than that it's the same I was going to say they look familiar to the work that we did when we were in that Focus Group okay yeah you know and we're really trying to stay true to the to the work that was done with that large stakeholder group over the course of a year and and make sure that we're honoring that work I can see all the similarities in there yeah any other questions I have a question but I didn't know if Rob was finished okay believe it or not I'm finished well I'm here with anxious to ask um I'm curious because this is a

105very different way that we're working the plan which I love and um I guess the question I always have on when we make a change like that this is so systemic into the system all you know all the way to up and down how are people handling it I mean do we have um I know we've got some success here just from being at the school Improvement plan meetings and hearing those conversations but when you're out there in in the schools are you feeling like people are getting on board or we still kind of like wobbly about it I can take a bit of a crack and then you can both of us are are in the schools to a large extent sitting with principals walking the classrooms being in math classrooms and um you

106know it's not without its struggle I mean change you know it and and this is you know you think about the elementary math and it's a significant significant change in the way that we approach teaching in students is what we've always wanted to and that's put the kids in charge having them do this struggle own their own learning and not let them off the hook but facilitate it in a way that you know all the students have a voice and continue to move forward in their math and and um it's not but you know in the teachers and the principals that I've talked to have really embraced it particularly at the elementary level the new curriculum the the training that happened uh in August really propelled them forward along with the supports that Dr Williams

107Illustrated up here and the the the um the focus that we have uh with our entire District around math has created some that Snowball Effect we heard about a little bit earlier and and uh so I can tell you that I'm actually very shocked at how well people have not only received it embraced it but led around it it's been it's been really really wonderful to see foreign you know and I I just have to agree I think um people appreciate Clarity and they appreciate support and they appreciate consistency um we uh I think one of the hesitations when I did my uh first 60 days of kind of interviews with everyone is you know are we going to stick with this plan you know will something else come and we change we pivot but

108just hearing comments about us being consistent and focused on instruction and looking at data even though there are there are tension points right around what that means people I think just appreciate the focus on student learning I appreciate that and I I always when you go through a significant change you always I always worry about what the emotional bandwidth of the people making the changes are going through and and especially coming off of the last couple of years where it was a highly stressful for everybody I mean there isn't a person that didn't feel the pain and so you know that has been on my mind is how are they handling the shift on the heels of the crisis kind of situ you know era and and that so um because I I just want

109us to to keep that side of it in mind as we're going through this because it's not going to get easier anytime soon um but I'm excited to hear I'm I'm very excited for the pencil to not be the one that they use at the golf course to fill out the [Music] big one with an eraser on the end I like your analogy you you know your your point about um just having gone through so much and and people's bandwidth and one of the things I I believe I've learned in some of the the the the the professional learning and research around trauma is people need consistency they need structure you know it's when things are constantly changing that you know adds to that frustration um yes change in the in and of itself does

110create its own bit and we've been trying to consistently check in um yeah like for example at the end of every professional learning opportunity we have with staff we always do a feedback survey you know how do we do how is this Landing go what can we improve and they tell us you know what's working for them and what's not and what they appreciate so the comments that we're saying about people appreciate structure and all the things uh you know I'm paraphrasing and parroting things just literally from their feedback about um the work and how things are going and I think it's worth mentioning mentioning to your point Victoria that um you know the I have had comments that you know that's one more thing of course uh with the math focus and our teachers

111and principals have an extraordinary lift right now and we don't want to um lessen that we want to make sure that we're making sure that we're paying attention to that and it's tough it's tough um post pandemic we're dealing with a lot of challenges out there uh both Trauma from students and staff and so we have to pay attention that we have to continue to support our staff but we have to have a common focus and move ourselves out of that into higher aspirational level and I think that's what our strategic plan will do for us good thank you any other comments thank you thank you oh great all right good evening um I am I'm wishing you a happy New Year if no one has done it yet our first school board meeting of

112the new year and I am actually walking in gratitude I'm reminding myself of all of the wonderfulness that is around me um and I couldn't have asked for a better example of how to introduce this what we've been working on since we last met which are these establishing of our staff Affinity groups then the conversation you all were able to have about the book challenge um Victoria you asked you you made a really great statement um which leads to this is you know I hope our teachers have you know the support and a mechanism to be able to support students as they are encountering these different um inputs right whether it be a book or a student or or a situation um and yes this is one of the ways in which we are going

113to do that we're partnering with ESD 112 and Vancouver Public Schools to begin our staff Affinity groups um we had an amazing facilitator training it was amazing skill set that it takes to facilitate a space where you're going to be dealing with some very very um I would say challenging topics um we have to make sure that the folks who are going to be feeling that facilitating that space are ready to do so and so we had our the first part of our training on Monday There's a second piece on the 23rd for our facilitators and then we have our meet and greet our very first Affinity staff group at ESD 112 on January 26th and that's open to all staff including you all um that this this flyer went out to every staff in

114our district as well as VPS and so we'll be attending that we'll be meeting and greeting each other in a whole group session in interracial group and then we'll be breaking off in Affinity to have conversations about the experiences that we have in our district and how we can utilize each other as a support mechanism just like what Jamila was sharing about how our students can better receive the inputs that they are dealing with on a day-to-day basis when they have that support group around them so you know for example our teachers who might have a book such as this in their repertoire and are thinking of giving it to students we have the opportunity to go in affinity and talk with other folks about well did you do this how did that go for

115you this is how it went for me and this is how we build capacity and also collectivism one of the things um that Dr Williams was speaking about and everybody feeling good about our um majority of people feeling good about our school Improvement plans and our strategic plan is that we're moving together in this that gives you the ability to feel not alone in some of the things that you're going to be encountering whether they're positive or negative so this is just an example of how we're equipping equipping our staff to be able to do such things the dates for the rest of the year have also already been established and they are listed there and we look forward to continuing this partnership right now it's just between ourself and Vancouver Public Schools but we

116could potentially venture out and invite our colleagues in some other neighboring districts to do this work with us as well and that is my report thank you Clarissa for starting that partnership up and um because I am a big believer you know if we're all working that way in the community um we could all be supportive to to each other yes um so yeah and that might be something that Vancouver City of Vancouver might want to join in on us with us yeah thank you for doing that I like it absolutely thank you Clarissa thank you all right next on the agenda is information item only which is the financial statement through November next up on the agenda is our comments by the board do we have anything that we would like to add this

117evening I'd like to agree with superintendent uh Boyd about the volume levels possible in an elementary school gym if you call for it it's a little bit of levity in there uh and but I didn't get tinnitus so I'll be okay um and I hope the kids will be okay after that because they I know that there are kids who don't thrive in loud spaces um a couple of mine um but I also had some other opportunities um you know I uh the teacher librarian at Burton was my daughter's fourth grade teacher my oldest daughter and so we had an existing relationship and I volunteered as most of us I think did to just go into the building and help with their mid-year move uh and she showed me the whole school uh ended up

118just becoming a listening session to teachers one of whom said I'm so glad for this new building there are no spiders in the floor and that kind of thing I just uh watching an entire School celebrate um what this community was able to bring him uh was really uplifting it was a great week to be on the board and to be helping out I even got to shelve some books the FRN thing is coming up at the end of January and uh we'll talk more about that in alleged updates but I'll be going on that one and uh Burton was the big thing yeah I was sorry that I was sick and couldn't go to the Burton opening because I was really looking forward to that I love that school um but I feel like

119I haven't seen all of you in so long since I was Miss wasn't at the last board meeting so um I'm excited for the new year feels I mean there's going to be challenges obviously but I'm very keen on seeing our strategic plan keep moving down the path and the work that we'll be doing on our end to make all these things happen and be supportive about it and be those communicators out in the community as this is rolling out so that people are aware of what's happening in our district because there's a lot going on yeah thank you Jenny uh just I'm Burton is amazing I always loved the new schools looking forward to seeing the transportation building get built um and they'll plane get finished because that's coming next yeah it's going fast

120yeah it's really fast I drive by it quite often I'm pretty surprised how quick it's going up although Burton I think went up pretty quick too it seemed like that went up really well um I guess for me the only thing I have is I was invited by leadership Clark County to participate in their education session as a panelist to speak on equity and education so that's coming up in February so I'm looking forward to participating in that most of you know I used to be the education chair for the leadership Clark County so it's been a while since I've been with the group so it'll be good to go back but excited to discuss equity and education with the current leaders going through leadership Clark County that sounds like a good opportunity yeah glad

121you get to do that it's it was a really good day for me when I was going through that program and I'm so insightful yes especially the people that you brought in to talk to us I'm glad to see another group going through that it's always hard to pick the topics for Education day with leadership Clark County because there's so many of them yeah just a few just a few Jackie meaning you want to add you're good student reps do you have anything you'd like to add um just a couple things from me I did also enjoy Burton I just want to give some recognition to the principal Chase and the entire staff that did an amazing job getting that school together in the two weeks on winter break it was quite a feat I

122mean I Lori and I were there the day before it opened and I was like there was a lot of boxes who are the most positive people I've ever met yeah yeah they did a fantastic job getting that place ready to go and it was a fun event um I want to remind everybody about Tuesday the 17th uh join us to listen to um superintendents Boyd's vision for the district so make sure you have that on your calendars and it'll be a fun night all right um anything else before I move on okay next we're going to do future agenda items is there anything we want to add to our list I know Rob and I have a meeting this Thursday so if you have anything reach out to us well the only thing and

123we've talked about it already tonight would be the follow-up on that book oh to make sure we get it scheduled yeah we get it scheduled but yeah okay we'll give you an update on that over the next in the next month okay okay thank you all right anything else all right next we'll move on to public comments any Community member wishing to address the board may do so during the designated time on the agenda for public comments as long as the comments are not Personnel related or about an individual employee or student and are not legal in nature each speaker will be allowed three minutes to address the board 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

124administrative staff or the audience please state your name and District affiliation if any it looks like we've got Gary Wilson who signed up this evening come on up Gary welcome um yeah Gary Wilson Evergreen School District last month I had shared about the was the General Assembly well yeah hold on one sec so we'll get you this another mic oh is that it it's on okay thank you yeah last month I had shared about the Wasa general assembly on September 30th approving policy 61 which basically stated parents or major stakeholders in their children's lives in education and in light of that in November I asked if you guys I sent you the proclamation to recognize um parents rights and education month and I was told yeah you guys had something else in mind for that

125month another Proclamation so last month I was asking if January could be recognized as parents rights in education month and I didn't hear a definitive yes or no so I guess I don't know if January is still open for that but if not I know February's probably got another Proclamation probably lined up but I don't know if I should continue asking for a future month or January or um and I'll just ask if if you know just a yes or no and if no maybe just why just since this um is in line with the general was this General Assembly policy 61. um I guess yeah yeah and other school districts across the state are also you know have approved it so um yeah thank you all right thank you Gary all right at this

126time it doesn't appear we have anybody else signed up so this time we will call for a recess or the board will sign documents uh we will reconvene in a board Workshop where we will have a review of the 2023-2024 draft school calendar we will have a board our school board representative planning student board representative planning and then we'll do a legislative update after that we will go into an executive session to discuss the performance of a public employee thank you [Music]