001Hi, it's now 6 PM. I'd like to welcome you to this meeting of the Granite Falls School Board. Um, let please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Like to hand it over to our superintendent, Diesel for our land acknowledgement. Thank you. Uh we honor the first peoples of these lands by acknowledging that the area in which we gather is within the traditional territory of the Stilaish tribe of Indians. The Stilogish people have inhabited these lands and waters since time in memorial and their descendants have remained in this territory to this day. The Stilogish people have continued to practice the traditional ways of their ancestors of
002fishing, hunting, and gathering. The Stillgish tribe has had these lands and cultural traditions passed on to them by their ancestors who believe that everything has a spirit and that they are the caretakers of these lands and waters. Thank you. Um, present at tonight's meeting is our superintendent Dana Gizon. Um, and board members, uh, Director Bill Dayne and director Carl Kerry and myself, Director Carly Kade. And that brings us to item number 3A, uh, board comments and reports. We want to do I mean, we have Excusing Peter. Oh, yes. Um uh we need to excuse Peter and um I make a motion to excuse Director Leoo and director um Peter Gner like director Gner. Motion has been made. Second. Second. All in favor? I alrighty. Um so 3A board comments and reports. You want to start
003director day? Uh well yes. Um, one of the things I'm really excited about is hearing all of the positive news of our wrestling team, our basketball teams, um, student participation and then, uh, getting, you know, a lot of energy going on with the BOTC going on right now. Um, amazing time for our schools and and I just want to say I'm really glad to be in this position so I can enjoy it from this level supporting our students. All right, Dr. Um, nothing really on comments. I'll I'll talk about uh legislative update since I'm the legislative rep. Um, so there there's still um we just passed a really good milestone in uh the legislation legislature. Um it's called the House of Origin Policy Committee Cutoff. So basically all bills that failed to be adopted by
004their original House policy committee um basically died. So hundreds there's was roughly about 1,800 bills um that's died down probably by three or 400 bills. So able to really start to focus on uh the things that are going to have um the biggest impact for us for our priorities for special ed funding, MSOcks and transportation. Um, so there's another big cut off um that's coming on Friday the February 28th. If a bill has a fiscal impact and if it doesn't uh if it's not voted out of that committee at that by February 28th, then that'll die. So at that point, we can really start to see um if those bills are going to increase those those levels are going to have an impact to us. Um, I will say that I I was um listening
005to the radio a couple of days ago and there's there was a lot of talk in Olympia about, you know, the shortfall and how to address it and stuff like that. And um the um uh uh one of the well, I'll just say the Democratic Party released like a preliminary or hey, if we don't raise taxes, you know, here's the the potential impact to everyone. and they showed like a I forget the percentage but a significant decrease in funding for uh schools if they they don't raise taxes and again I'm not making political statement but I'm just saying I like gasped I was like because I'm you know obviously we we're in a desperate need for more money in a situation where we got less money like I I couldn't even fathom right like that
006and so like I had all of the panic and all the anxiety and I was like okay everything's going to work out Carl just stay focused so um I'll feel a lot better as these cut offs come and we can really start to see if those bills that have that impact are still alive and moving forward. So that's all I've got unless you guys have any questions or anything. Sounds good. Um my comments tonight, I didn't prepare anything and so you know when that happens I kind of stutter over my words sometimes. But something that's been weighing on my mind, um, when I joined the school board, um, like Director Carrie, I was voted in by the people of this community. And part of that, um, was in my campaigning and things like that was
007talking to the people of the community, the parents of the community. And I promised to be um a voice for the parents who didn't feel like they were being listened to. Um and just supporting parents as much as I could, being one myself. Um there seems to be this narrative going around um the state and even beyond that parents don't seem to know what's best for their own children. And that's the schools do and the districts do. And that's not the way it should be. We should be a team working together for our students. Um especially, you know, there I'm not going to deny there are parents out there that um don't make the best decisions, but there's also teachers and staff that don't make the best decisions. And I'm not just talking about here.
008I'm talking about across the country and the state. And so I just want to encourage everyone to work together because we're in this for the students and just kind of to erase that narrative that one is better than the other. Um parents do know what's best for their kids and so we need to work together um as a team. So that's just what has been weighing on my mind lately and that's all I wanted to say about that. So, um, moving on, uh, item 4A, the high school student presentation. All right. Well, welcome to the high school. Um, tonight, Mr. Nicely is going to review our SIP. But before we get to uh our school improvement plan, we got to meet two of our outstanding high achieving freshmen who have taken this freshman year on
009uh and really bought into the class that they're going to be talking about, freshman success, uh different types of goal setting. Each one of them have a lesson that was um already done in class. Why did we pick these two? Um because they uh really enjoy public speaking and they were the ones who had their hands up and said, "Let me do this." So, no, they've been practicing. Freshman success, it's a class that um every freshman takes it. It focuses on organization, transition into high school, kind of start developing goals. um once they hit high school, life becomes real and um the classes that they take, the decisions that they make really affect more than just the day they're in. It affects the entire uh some it affects their entire life. And so, um, we've
010seen really some good data, maybe not from the freshman, but from the sophomores after they've completed, uh, the freshman success class with attendance and and different grades and success on ESPback. And um, so you met our our first presenter, Anna Sison. Um the curriculum that they use is called school connect and it's module two and for after the lesson that that they had um they'll be able to reflect on effects that technology has on their lives. Uh design a dig a digital detox. We all know that kids are um fully engulfed in digital world and um in chatting with kids and maybe one that's up here um sometimes they're on their phone for like 12 hours a day and um and just the effects that the dopamine has and and she's going to be talking
011about brain rub and then just um discuss social media and smart folk Uh, smartphone time management. Annelli, you go ahead. Start with that one. Yep. Zombies refer to people as alpha completely absorbing their screen through Tik Tok, YouTube shorts, or whatever the latest give content is. their eyes as they consume hours of brain numbing content from NPC labs or high meme compilations. There's no real thought or engagement in this endless cycle of digital over stimulation. It reminds their brain, so it makes it harder to pay attention and it also is harder to focus when they don't have anything that's like rapid flashing cuts or text or do screaming ski every 3 seconds. Instead of developing critical thinking skills or creativity, they become trapped in a constant loop of dopamine hits. We need constant stimulation just
012to go normal. This phenomenon is called brain ro happens because their minds are fed nothing but low effort and repetitive um content designed to keep them scrolling instead of engaging in deep conversations or learning creativity. Their brains crave only the next cheap laughs or viral trend. The more they consume, the harder it becomes to process complex thoughts like reading a book or paying attention to class without the urge to check their votes. As if as Jenna Alpha keeps saying, "Lostate void. Will they ever escape the skiibbity toilet doom or is it ticked off too strong to stay away?" And so she wrote a poem um she wrote this poem about um digital zombies just she's going to read that to you too and it really sums up everything about their dive into technology world. I
013wake [Laughter] up. I click the button and I get accepted. Second turn into minutes. I said more videos are den. What time could it be? All I know is my battery is low. My phone is ready. I step out the door and see my friends. I was trapped in those trends and apps. Once notification checked and this is what kids they they live with this every single day. Uh over the last 10 years, I've seen a huge impact that uh the digital world has on our kids, both positive and negative. Uh this year, we began removing phones from the classroom. Uh it has helped tremendously. We still allow the kids to use their phones uh during lunch and just for what reason so they can get a fix. I don't know. But um we do
014allow them to use their phones, but in the classrooms, the things that Anelli was talking about, the disruption, the the mindn numbing, uh they've been more engaged and and so um it's a step. There's a lot to do, especially with uh the advertisements of the digital world and how they bring in kids and the lights and flashing and all of that. So, um there's a long ways to go with the digital addiction that kids are dealing with today, but I think Anna did a great job of summing it up. And so, our next one, um Juliana Spence, part of the freshman success class is goal setting. And um each one of them take uh a day and and write some goals about not just high school, but what what are their goals for future? And
015and she has a passion in cheerleading. She's one of our cheerleaders. and uh her goal was to become on a on a national champion cheerleading team and so uh and get a 4.0. So go ahead. This unit was about developing our skills as high school students. We learned how to be ready for tests, learn to take notes, and have them maximize in class and out of time class learning. We also learned how to set goals, which is what I'll be talking about today. One of my goals is to have a 4.0 GPA. I mapped out everything that I can do that will help me accomplish this. Here's what a road map may look like. Some things that will help me reach this goal is to focus, turn in on my work on time, don't get
016behind, try my best, and then reach that goal. I also have a second I also have a second road map goal, which is to make a world's cheerleading team. Some steps for this are to set my specific goals, practice, learn from failure, revise your mental health, practice with a coach, get advice from them, and then try out and make the team. Creating a road map will help to make your goal more realistic and attainable. These are called fat goals. Why we create road maps is to help us get where we want just like a regular map. I learned to set goals. I learned sorry I learned how to set a goal and get what I want out of school and in school life. What is a fab goal? A fat goal is follow your passion.
017Aim high and be specific. students on in our tiger cabinet also, which is a a group of students that we bring together once a month to kind of uh give our students voice. And so, uh that kind of leadership at our school, uh I feel pretty good about the the future of this high school. And you're going to see, uh Mr. Nisley talk about u some different things that we've achieved in high school academically. and and we can see the starting of the growth. And when you have uh kids like this and and some of our sophomores, juniors, and seniors that are really focused on not just themselves, but kind of a problem and and trying to fix the problem. Um there's a lot of good things happening here at the high school and a
018lot of good growth that we've seen. So, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Nisley now and he'll go through the entire Mr. B. Before we do, um, does the board have any questions for our students who presented? A lot of them. I think you guys did a great job. Yeah, I do too. I do too. Yeah. And not just the the digital zombie thing. It's not just you guys. It's us, too. I actually think that Yeah, for real. For real. And I love your map, too. I'm so stupid. Yeah, I know. Oh my goodness. Wow. Do you need to go downstairs to the banquet? It's okay. Oh, you can go. Yeah, thank you so much for being here. Thank you, girls. So, we're moving on to 4B then Grand Falls High School annual
019report presented by John Nicely and Dave Vanke. So, Superintendent Gand and President Concincaid and schoolboard members and directors for the district. This is our school improvement plan uh for Grant Falls High School. And so this first slide here, uh, I call this these are our students. And so if you can kind of look at the breakdown of our students, um, I'm going to talk about on this next slide that our biggest growing population of students at our high school is our Hispanic Latino students. And so I'll I'll talk about them here in a second. So over just the four years that I've been here, uh, we've seen, uh, kind of the changing demographics of our school, and these are all of our students. And so all of the programs that we do here at the
020high school impact all of our students. So uh the WHIST uh I love acronyms is the uh Washington school uh improvement framework. And so this is a u a three-year trend or uh a three-year average of different uh educational um activities or programs within our school. And so in that whist uh there's three different subgroups that have been identified uh that are kind of behind all of our students uh within our school and those encompass things like uh graduation rates, attendance, uh their performance on our state assessments. And so one of uh the subgroups identified is our Hispanic Latino subgroups. And so you can kind of look over time uh that this uh you can see the growth of this group. It's kind of um it's kind of leveled out a little bit over the
021last couple years, but it is a significant um percentage of students within our school. Two of the other subgroups that are uh identified on the Wissup that are behind uh the all students at our school is our uh lowincome students and then also our uh students u in special education. And you can kind of see uh the percentages of these subgroups. Um and you can see there's there's a kind of been a downward trend of percentage of students uh uh in special education. You can see this one kind of dip uh back in 2023 24 and that was because we had a freshman program at Crossroads and so we did have students that went directly uh to Crossroads and there was a a number I think seven or eight students that were special education students.
022So that did uh dip our overall percentage of special education students uh at the high school, but there still is a downward trend of those percentages. And also we know that in high school that we have a lot of students that don't uh fill out the paperwork for free and reduced lunch. So we do know that within our school there's a higher percentage than just what's identified on this particular slide. And this is just a snapshot as of yesterday, our uh uh totals or entity counts for our different grade levels. Uh so you can see uh that, you know, we had a big freshman class come in and and the previous classes were, you know, are are holding pretty good within within the numbers. And I know we have another big group coming up. So
023we're only going to continue to get bigger uh here at the high school. So we have right now a little over 600 students here at the high school. And so now I want to look at uh our SBA scores. And this was our 10th graders last year. Uh or this is a trend and and this is comparative to other schools because a lot of times we want to know kind of how are we doing uh against comparative schools in our area. So I just happen to pick uh Sultan High School, Lakewood High School, Meridian High School up in Bellingham, and then Southby High School. And so this is a three-year uh for our ELA scores in us back. And then up here was the um uh the the uh state uh percentages. And so in
024this line drawn through here is where that those state averages are. So you can see that in ELA that over the last three years that our students in 10th grade have performed above the state average. And you can see comparatively where they are to some of our neighboring schools kind of like sizes around. And then this is a math uh and so again you can see where that trend line is and we are still uh beneath that state level and we do have work to be done but you can see that uh over the three years. So we do have a positive trend uh with our schools and I'll talk a little bit about uh in some slides down the road kind of some of the things that we're doing around the area of math
025not just at the high school but also through our whole system here uh in the district. And then with science uh again the last three years we've performed as a school above the state average and again you can see the comparatives to uh to the schools uh in the surrounding area. So again, I think some positive news, you know, for the high school, you know, that you know, two out of the three areas, you know, that were above average. And I think in math, we're trending in the positive direction. And so this is just diving down into the the three tests that uh our our sophomores took last year. And just to kind of take this in, I know there's a lot on here, uh, but the the green and the blue bands are the
026students that met the standards on the test. So you can see math, ELA, and science. And then you can see how many uh students uh tested uh last year as 10th graders. So we you know had a 142 sophomores take the math and then 33% of them met standard. Uh and again I just see averaged up here. And then you can see in ELA that 67% of our students met standard. And then I also look at the other uh bars there. And so I called the kind of the gold or yellow there. That's kind of our low hanging fruit. Those are the kids that are just on the verge of uh meeting standard. And for example, last year we had 75 juniors take the SPACK. So they took it a year after they had already
027taken it and maybe didn't or didn't meet standard the year before. And another 19 students met standard. So So again, this is just a snapshot of a moment in time when the students were 10th graders, but if they don't pass, we do have them you take it in 11th grade and and can have them take it again in 12th grade. We do see as kids are in math for more years at the high school that more kids are passing the state assessment um down the road. And so we do uh what's called uh map assessments. So this is our progress monitoring uh throughout the year. So we take the MAP assessment uh in the fall, winter, and the spring. So so far we've taken it in the the fall and the and the the winter.
028And so, uh, the 10th graders down here, these will be the students that are taking the ESPback this year. And then you can see kind of where our ninth graders are and then our overall. So, you can see the number of students that uh took the u the MAP test uh in the fall and you can see kind of the achievement levels. And so, obviously, we want to see more green and more blue as we progress uh you know through our three assessment windows. And then this is math. And so I'm very encouraged by looking at our 10th graders. So already um 45% of our sophomores have met, you know, met their standard on the on the math growth. And and there's some good correlation between how students perform on the math and how they'll
029perform on the on the SVAC when they take it uh in May. So I think those are very encouraging numbers. as we were looking at that that kind of growth that we've had over the last few years. I think we'll continue to see that growth and then this is now a comparison because we've taken it in the fall and we've taken in the winter. So, we've added the growth component and so you can see uh this top bar uh for math and for reading you can see the percentage of uh students that have made growth between taking it in the fall and taking it uh in the winter time. And so within the math uh program, they set a growth goal for each student. And so this will tell whether they met that preset goal
030that that the MAP uh assessment has set for each of our students. Now going specifically to our school improvement goal goals. And so this first goal one is for ELA and again looking at hopefully increasing as a goal from 66% of our students that met standard uh last year and hopefully increasing that uh to 76%. And then also within our MAP uh testing that we had seen uh an average go from 42 to 52% of our students meeting their growth goals on our uh on our MAP assessments. And then just some of the things that that uh we use uh in kind of directing us uh at at the school level. Um uh so we we look at the ESPback and I Ready data from middle school. Uh we talk with the math teachers down
031at the at the middle school as far as looking at placement for the students when they come up to the high school. Um and then some of the other actions um uh around ELA for example is that we use this math data in our PC's. So our teachers are looking at the data. I've done some um uh data chats with our uh English and our math teachers around around the map data. And then we are just starting to pilot a new curriculum uh for ELA. And so there'll be some uh kind of a systems approach looking at our middle school uh and our and our high school kind of working collaborative together. So they'll have good experiences coming up through the middle school and high school. Um and then so in concert with all of
032these we expect to cons continue to see um growth you know in um in the uh assessments as we see them over the next few years. And then math looking to get above that state average. So looking at hopefully hopefully a 10% growth uh and uh and then looking at on the math that growing to 70% of our students meeting growth uh as they as they progress through the the MAP assessments through the three windows and uh and then also again we we talk with the the uh the math teachers uh down at the middle school. We look at the the I Ready data and look at the ESPAC data. So, for example, as we saw that growth over the last three years in math, when we looked at the eighth graders in all of
033those cohorts, we were doubling the percentage of students uh meeting uh standard. So, for example, just last year when we had 32% of our students meeting growth or meeting standard when they were eighth graders, only 16% of them met standard. So just in two years we doubled the number or percentage of students meeting standard. And so one of the things that I think is very significant is uh making sure that we hire certificated math teachers to teach math and and they've done a great uh job down at the middle school in hiring certificated math teachers. So hopefully we'll see over time that with certificated math teachers uh teaching our middle school students and if we've been doubling uh the amount of students meeting meeting standard just in two years if they're coming to us even
034in a better place then hopefully we can continue that momentum as they move on through high school. So I think that's you know a great step in the right direction as we look to get above that that state average now and then with the ninth graders uh being on track to graduate. So, if a student because we're on 24 credits to graduate and we're on a sixth period day, a student doesn't have, you know, you know, they if they fail one class, they're already off track uh to graduate. Uh so, we have to do something to make up that credit. Uh and so, you know, so you know, we're trying to get build to a goal of 65% of our freshmen uh passing all of their classes their freshman year so they're on track uh
035to graduate. and and so the previous uh back in 22 23 6.3% of our freshmen passed all of their classes. So some of the things that that we've done as as you've seen the freshman success in classes is is one uh one thing that we've done uh you know I think uh the tiger cabinet that uh Dr. these ones has put together I think is is you know collaboratively our students coming together and telling us what we need to do to help them be more successful in school. Uh we have a tiger period where where uh on Wednesday students can can go and have 45 minutes to go get extra help uh from teachers within the school day. Uh, I think the the curriculum, you know, the uh teachers, you know, being relationship driven, you
036know, building relationships with all of our students are all things that we can do to help all of our freshmen get off to a good start. We have our um Tiger crew that that does a great first day um um first day with all of our freshmen, getting them acclimated and getting them accepted into uh the school. So, I think these are all things that will help our freshman be successful. And then just uh parent and and student involvement within this this process. Uh this is something that we need as a school to do a better job of. Um and so we're going to present this this same plan to a booster club. Uh also to our leadership uh class. I think Tiger Cabinet is another great place that we can continue to communicate what
037we're doing at the school. Uh the student climate surveys with our students. And then other communications that we do at the high school. I send out a weekly uh communication out to parents through Tiger email news. Uh I think um we do a really good job with our Grand High School social media with our Facebook uh page and getting a lot of information out about the school and then our parent teacher conferences is a great opportunity for parents to come into the school and uh and meet the teachers and have those conversations and help us know what we can do better uh as a school to help all of our students. And that's all I have. So, any questions that you might have? I've got one. So, um on the uh the math, um well,
038I guess a couple of questions. First off, the the jump that about I guess what was it like 10% or something like that for us to meet the sta staff or meet the state average. That's a that's a significant jump more than we've done in previous years. How confident do you feel about that? I'm going to go back to I can't Well, if you went back and saw that u the uh math uh data from this year for the 10th grade class, that that was a about a 10% uh increase from the sophomores when they when they took the uh when they were doing the math math assessments last year. So I think um uh yeah so down here with this 10th grade that already you know that 45% of our sophomores have already you
039know met standard on the on the MAP assessment and so that correlates to the ESPback then then we could see potentially 45% um you know students meeting standard on the ESPback versus the 31 whatever percent that we had last year. So, so this has given us a good kind of a dipstick on how our how our students are doing this year. And we're in our third year of using the HMH curriculum. So, I think our our teachers are getting, you know, very uh used to that and in their planning in their PLC's. I think that's um kind of helping out as well. So, this just gives me a a good indicator that that good things are happening. I talked with, you know, Michael today because I was on the hiring of math teacher that he
040hired um that last year is their first year. And I think, you know, we'll see as students have had a certificated math teacher teaching algebra down at the the middle level that will hopefully see more students coming out prepared, you know, and and ready, you know, either going or if they're teaching eighth grade math down at the middle school, maybe he'll be ready to go into algebra more prepared. When is the SPACT given? That's in May. It's in May. Yeah. Okay. Um, and I know previously you were in Florida and Florida is huge on testing and stuff like that. How are you identifying like those kids that are like are you are you doing anything specific to identify those kids that are on the cusp to, you know, get them over into the greener and
041the blue as well as, you know, making sure that your green, your blues are are still, you know, every they're still progressing and and doing all of that stuff. How are you address specifically addressing that? So in so in the the when I go on to their their website, I can I can click on the yellow and it'll bring up all the names so that so they become actual human beings. And so I have a notebook that has, you know, every one of these these students listed. And so so I called them in, you know, to my office, encourage them, you know, talk to them directly. So they're just not, you know, a number in in a percentage, right? their and this is something I did learn in Florida that that you have, you know,
042the book, you know, that has the bio on every single, you know, students and and so you know who that 25% is, you know, by name, by face, you know, and we're a small enough school that, you know, you know, we don't have, you know, a lot of math classes and so they're easy to see, easy to sit down next to and then calling them down individually and then making the teachers aware like who who are these students because just with a little bit of encouragement, with a little bit of you know, maybe some sitting down side by side and do some corrective instruction that you can move, you know, because you know, the numbers that we're dealing with, you know, the end value here, you don't have to move a whole lot of kids,
043you know, to make a good increase, you know, in the percentage. So, if you get five more kids, you know, to meet the standard, that's going to be a good bump in that percentage. How are like in your PLC's and in the actual classroom, are is anything looking different to go, okay, I've got Billy Bob. He's in the in the yellow. Let me Billy sorry Billy Bob was first name to come to my head. Um but you know let are the are teachers talking about that? Are you are you is that is there something differentiating to that student that's happening in the classroom to get to fill out whatever hole they have to get them on track. I guess what does that look like in the classroom? Yeah, I mean that's definitely a work in
044progress. I mean, when I did the the uh the data chat, you know, with the teachers and showed them because they they have access to go into the same um data site and and so they can drill down to the actual student. Then they can drill down on that student down to where where are, you know, what where are their um uh goals, you know, and then it gives them things that they can actually do, you know, and that takes work. And so, you know, trying to figure out how do you maximize your time, you know, because, you know, they only have so much time. And so, how to maximize it? But, for example, I was in Miss Coulson's classroom yesterday and she was doing uh systems of equations. I could be very bullying, you
045know, teaching kids how to do elimination or substitution, but she was using zombies and she had them all cut out uh like six zombies and then they had to uh and then each zombie was assigned to a um uh one system of equations. And so when they solve that system, it showed where on the graph is the solution and they would put that zombie on that spot and they would show like where was the zombie killed at you and and so the teacher a quick visual could see if they got it right because you know they put the zombie in the right coordinate, you know, in in on the right solution. But kids were getting into it. So they were having fun and actually doing the math. It wasn't just solving a system of equations
046and bunch of numbers, but they got to cut out zombies and they got to decorate their grids, you know, they had cities and they had, you know, the country and all different things. And so I think they were making it fun, too. And the kids were learning, but they were also doing math. Can you go to the three-year aspect data on on math, the comparison with the other districts? If you don't mind, I think there's one more. Yeah. So, you know, we've been um pretty big jump between 22 and 23 and 23 24. Um I I've blocked it out of my memory, but what years were the COVID years? 192 March of 2020 is when we went 2020. Okay. Yeah. So, this was my first year when we were first back in in the building.
047Okay. Yeah. And so, we were at 20. And if you looked at those those students when they were in eighth grade, only like 10% of them met met standard in in eighth grade. So just in those two years, we got them to 20%. So seem like in every those every year it was doubling the students meeting standard. So just out of and certainly not to take us off topic but just out of curiosity um South Whidby is there I mean is have we talked to their like their m I mean they're they're killing it and they've consistently been killing it and I would put granny kids over South Whitby kids any day of the week. I mean what what's what's the secret sauce that they have right? My my dad used to always say you
048don't have to be the smartest guy in the room. Find someone who's doing it right and do what they do. So, um, what are they doing? Well, and I was looking at I was looking at their report card today. So, they have they're significantly smaller than than we are. They have about, um, 400 students total. And so, when I looked at how many kids took the took the S back, they had 89 students, you know, take the S back where we had, you know, 146. So, almost we're almost doubling the amount of kids taking it. So, so we're we're a little bit larger, we're a little bit smaller, but to your point, I mean, it doesn't matter the size, it's, you know, the, you know, what they are doing in the classroom. So, those are
049definitely things that, you know, we're close enough that, you know, I can reach out and maybe get the math teachers talking and and and talk about what they're doing. Yeah. But you're right. I mean, it's why we create the wheel. Yeah. just just out of curiosity, but that that's really all I have question wise. I'm going along with Carl's ideas and I I just think I heard Carly say it is is our curriculum similar to the two schools that are above state average or are we and a different? That's a good point. I mean, I think HMH is a is a pretty typical curriculum, but I'll definitely reach out and see, you know, if they're doing something different. Um, but HMH is, you know, I'm a math teacher by trade and and so HM I
050think is a pretty solid solid curriculum. Um, so does it align with the aspect pretty well? Yes, it does. Yeah. Have you have you talked to the teachers to see if this um reflects uh performance in the classroom because I know testing can it could be hit or miss any day of the week. So yeah. and and to your point, it was interesting um that the the 11th graders that that um passed the ESBAC last year, you'd be shocked to see who they were and why they didn't pass in the in the in the sophomore. It was shocking that they didn't pass it. And I think a lot of it is is, you know, Michael and I tried to go around to all the classes and really talk to, you know, if you don't have
051that internal drive, then then we're trying to give them some external reasons to take it seriously. whether it was a graduation pathway, if you pass both the English and the math, you've met your pathway or um you know that uh you know if you happen to fail a math class in your freshman sophomore year, you could get credit back. I mean, so we're trying to give them a lot of reasons why to to take this seriously if they didn't just internally you when you have a test put in front of you to to you know to take it seriously. So try to give them some more reasons that when this test is put in because a lot of times they don't really see the reason it's just another test and they don't see that it
052goes in the grade book or whatever they they kind of struggle with that. So we're going to do that again. This year go around and you know last year we did an assembly. I brought in kind of a motivational uh speaker that that that had a tough life coming up and you played in the NFL and had a hard road to the NFL and and the kids really got into it and I think you know that helped. It was just kind of a moment in time right before they took the test to hopefully get them all excited around taking the test. So just also trying to pull out just too, you know, for the test itself, you know, to make them take it seriously. Do you think you've got buy in from like the math
053department and stuff like that that like, yo, this is this is a focus like we this is where we need to go. Like let's every day wake up and say how do how do we get to that 45%. 43% or I forget what that is. That's you know that's that that's that's that is a hard that's an every day because some are more than others and so it takes us also as the administrators to also help them see that if they're not seeing that themselves. Yeah. Can I can I jump in and also say um you know one of the things about the ESPback and many of our standard based tests that SBA math SBA They are written at the reading level of a 10th grader in April May of their 10th grade year. So
054when we think about our math scores, yes, there's a lot about number sense, numbers and operations, geometry, all the advanced math, but there's also a correlation to our ELA and our reading scores. So because the literacy piece, the reading piece is the great equalizer. Carly knows this just meeting her in her classroom. It is a great accessor accessory the the to create access to in order to uh to really access uh the assessment. So I think it's really important to keep that in mind. Can you go back to ELA for a sec, John? that as we as we think about ELA and we think about boosting our achievement in ELA, we should also see our math scores increase as students are understanding how to decode uh math problems because our math problem types on the
055SBA are um clearly just math problems but they are also uh reading an excerpt trying to pull out information to decode what that what the writer is asking you to do and to to actually complete the problem type. So we while we are working on math that's part of our deep commitment to reading literacy because that is the great that the the great equalizer to create access to the math and the science and the future right so just to jump in there so we should see an increase and please don't and keep in mind I think one of the great things about our system is I'm not an educational professional Carly is but Bill and I certainly are not I I think of things in a very kind of business mind and and I'm I'm
056not minimizing anything you said at all. Uh but when I look at the data and I look at data all the time, right? We we're at 65.5 on an ELA and we're at roughly 35% or something. So we have roughly a one to two ratio. Yeah. So if we're trying to based upon your logic then as that rises um the mass scores rise which certainly seems logical to me but that means that you have to rise the SBA approximately 20% to be able to get 10%. And that is that's an astronomical um that doesn't that doesn't seem logical or that doesn't seem attainable uh to me. Um, and I would I would I guess I would also say um you math is as important almost is as important as the ELA and stuff like that.
057So, you know, as as you're trying to, you know, really lean into, you know, getting kids to where they need to be successful in whatever comes next. If if if the if I was in, you know, at the controls of the school, which I'm not. We have great leaders here, you know, I would say, well, what we're doing in ELA is working, right? Let's keep doing that and let's, you know, all hands on deck on the on the math thing and something like that where I would be satisfied with, you know, kind of maintaining that comparative to the state average and stuff. So, I guess what I was just really trying to get at is is that, you know, are we, you know, where the rubber meets the road, which is a teacher standing in
058front of a classroom with bright eyes looking at him or her when they're teaching. Like, does that look different uh for at the student level? Because if we aren't like intentionally doing that, that means success is an accident and failure is an accident and we're going to fail more than we succeed. So, I guess that's that's what I'm trying to nail down. Yeah. Right. And director Kerry, of course, the the focus K12 on math is is is also where we've shifted as a system and I know that uh principally alluded to that as well, but math specialists at the elementary level, right? that is a special that kids get pulled out and have a second dose of math from someone different in a different way and because that is we have to look at this
059through our whole system and you can see the state averages obviously the state is performing you know in this way too with a discrepancy between ELA and math but I think it's an emphasis to that and we know that across the nation I mean to Carly's point talking about nationwide things Granite Falls is not not immune to this that um elementary teachers often feel much more comfortable teaching reading and some are incredible at at teaching reading and math and everything else, but sometimes we don't spend maybe enough time. So, it's it's looking at all those instructional minutes and that focus on on math and preparing. Um, absolutely a bare minimum is having teachers who are um certificated in teaching math. You to teach math, you have to be passionate about math and you have to
060have that background knowledge. That is the bare minimum. Um but it it is that K12 continuum and so the hope is emphasis right now around math and those kind of things and of course reading across content fields. We're all reading teachers and then hopefully that that trickles upward and we see the successes because I agree with you it's just as important for all the reasons. Can I ask one more thing and I'm certainly going to point. So one of the things that I've been on the board a long time one of the things whenever they talk is you know PLC's PLC's PLC's PLC's are very happen so you know I know we have early release for PLC's we have you know teacher planning you know we have all of these things related to like get
061teachers in a room looking at data leaning into the the student level how do I get to I'm not gonna say Billy Bob let's say Joe John this time okay how do I get to Joe John and you know and give Joe John what he needs. And one of the things I' I've asked and and this this is actually bigger than you mention I say I've asked constantly is I'm still unclear what's happening in those PLC's that's really getting to the to the student level. Not saying it's not happening but I guess I'm I've always been unclear and it seems like this is a perfect situation to go okay we are close things are looking good. like how how do does that get down to the classroom look different for those students individually so that
062they get what they need to so that those scores go because if not it's an accident right like you throw if I throw a ball up sometimes I'll catch it sometimes I won't right but if I learn how to catch if I'm taught how to catch right then I will catch it nine times out of 10 you made the comment about Southby and it's like yeah that's where you you dive in there's there is there's not really a secret sauce we know what works yeah I mean the research from Hattie is very very clear teacher efficacy, strong curriculum and material. I mean doing the work every single day. So I we know what works. It is the the the magic is in classroom. The magic is in the relationship with um the adult and and
063our students and making sure they have the right materials in their hands and then that PLC is time to come together and say gosh this isn't working or how do we calibrate or how are we doing this and really learning from each other. Every time I walk into a teacher's classroom I learn something. I get better as an educator and I generally think wish I would have thought of that when I was in the classroom, right? There's some great things happening. So I think it's that's that time for teachers to be able to collaborate and work together. We have administrators involved in that also and and those kind of things. But it also rests on data. What our data is telling us is X and we need to do these next things. To your point,
064what kids aren't at standard and what are we doing about it? Because if we aren't responding with the data in front of us, we become that whole data rich, you know, information bore. So let's take that data and then make moves so we can help kids and meet their needs. And we can tell that's the nice thing about all of the data that we have with I read or with maps scores is you can tell there's you can tell where the issues are. I mean my hats off to Mr. McKini and and Mr. Nicely many occasions they they directly both you happen to have a nice math background but working with kids is is something that our administrators do and sit down let me sit beside you and let's let's decipher this together. So um
065I think that that's analyzing the data, learning from each other, getting that horizontal alignment and then that vertical alignment and emphasis so that we become so our scores continue to increase and we because our outcomes right now I mean these outcomes are are within the state average. our outcomes are not within the state average at K8 and that is the concern for everybody sitting at this table and that's where we need to be better because if we get better at the K8 level then you know we'll have better scores here too and I would say that I've been blessed the last month and a half to be able to spend a couple days a week at Mount Ways that new stocking grounds and going into that math class and it was refreshing to see you
066know elementary kids excited about math and a teacher that's excited about you know teaching math. And I think over time that's going to pay off. And and going back to the PLC's, I think the hard part, especially in math in a small high school, like when I was in the large high schools, I would have five teachers that taught just algebra and they could sit around and they could lesson plan together, build, you know, um you know, tests together. But like here, we have four math teachers and and one two might carry over and teach the same class and then you got a couple single tins. And so it's hard on specific class content. you know, they'd have to do more strategies talking about, well, what's a kind of strategy that they can use, you
067know, in an algebra class or a pre-calc class or a calculus class, but but not all of them teach, you know, the same class that they can do, you know, more deep dives into a particular uh class. So that becomes some of the challenges in a small high school versus where I could send all my geometry teachers together and all the algebra teachers and my pre-cal teachers together to just sit and and think within that context itself. So they can go one of the things too Carl is going to say is that um you're asking John like what do they do when they see a student that's at that certain level. The cool thing about map is is that it gives a teacher um the areas where the student is struggling. So they might not
068struggle in all of the areas, but then it also gives suggestions on where you can teach them where they need that help. So that's the kind of the cool thing about map is that it gives that to the teacher like all those kind of different things. So you can really pinpoint where they're struggling and what they need to work on. It's good to know. Yeah. Anything else? Thank you. Forward, before we move on, our students are here and I'd love to get a picture of them by their Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay, perfect. We'd love to get a picture of you with them and I know I thank you for doing that, Director Carrie. really so he will get um I can actually we can move on if we want and we can and then okay
069so we'll just move on real quick to 4C superintendent if we all right this will be uh pretty quick um all right um quickly our communication safety and security update so we just want to give you some data on our um communications we've We've increased communication significantly this year. Um, and thank you to Paris for support in that and to Dan for support in that. It takes it takes a whole village. So, our social media posts are up 67% as compared to um last year at this time um the same amount of the school year. Uh we have weekly family news that's new this year. We have on average 1500 uh views per week of the family news that we send out on Fridays. And then weekly staff news was intermittent last year and it
070comes out every week and uh we have 350 average of view news per week. We can't always see who but we can see that they're accessing it and how long they're spending on it. Um a quick safety thing, one thing I wanted to highlight is and again thank you to Paris on this. We we um are accountable to have um by law a monthly drill at every one of our buildings. All of our buildings are requiring those safety drills. Um, Paris has a reminder on the calendar for all of our building principles and when they have not then I reach out to them and they either hold the drill or get the report to us immediately. Um, and they have to be a variety of drills. We've talked about that before, but it's important that
071we're able to practice those things as we've worked with EMS and and that. Um, so we have that going. Um, well, I would like to introduce our interim principal, Da Cruz. She is sitting behind us. Thank you for being here. Um we are so excited to have her and sorry. She is comes to us from uh the Snomish School District. She has just a wealth of background um in in elementary teaching. She's a passionate educator and a huge thank you to the Snomish School District for releasing her from her contract so she could come to Granite Falls. um they knew that we had a need and um their cabinet um was incredibly supportive in saying no, we know Granite Falls um has a principle that's out and needs to be um supported. So, we are
072super excited to have her. She um her uh contract is in the consent agenda and um she has been here for a couple of days doing um some work. So, we're really excited to have you on board. Welcome. No, not that way is super excited to have her also. Oh, perfect. Let's do it. Dan, can we put the slide up of the students um work? You guys can pass in the middle. I hate I hate pictures. Maybe like a Steinfeld. Taking a few. All right. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. You have a chair. So, Thank you, Dan. Um, one thing I wanted to highlight was, uh, of course we've been highlighting this all year and it's it's of it's a core value of mine is um, student voice. We will be reviewing
073board policy 1250, which is student advisors to the board. I will bring that um to the board for review at our next meeting. Um, we currently don't have a procedure. Our policy is antiquated. I I can't remember if it was 1990 or 2000 that it was most that the most recent um adoption of it. Um there'll be some proposed guidelines students being able to apply so we can have more than than two if need be. Um them coming to a meeting and they know what they're doing then what they are being asked to do when they apply and we'll go through that. Um and then their role is to of course provide speed perspective um follow board rules and be a part of um the work we do here. Um, super I am meeting with
074our ASBs um from Granite Falls High School and Granite Falls Middle School on Friday, February 28th. That'll be some nice time to to interact with our students once again. And then um our Tiger Cabinet, we just had two members of Tiger Cabinet. Um upcoming meetings. We talked about this a little bit at our last school board meeting, but um you all are invited to an interactive session um with our 53 Tiger Cabinet members. If you're going to be there, please let Paris know so if it is over three that we can advertise it as um as a meeting and if it's two or less then we won't do that. But that'll be a time that we can spend um with our students engaging with all of you. April 17th, some ongoing student action work um
075listening to our students, what's working, what's not. Um some of that work on that day will be some video creations that I'm working with Mrs. Sullivan to do um some video and um some recruitment things, but also um the work we've done all year, and we'll have a culminating um video that'll be on our website and presented to the board. And then lastly, May 29th, we will have representatives uh Sam Low and Carolyn Esleck and then Senator Wagner will be here um to talk with our kids and um and see what they've been doing in Tiger Cabinet, how their voice is being heard, and what they can do at the legislative levels. Lastly, um we have some upcoming events. As uh Mr. McKini mentioned, we have um finished up some winter sports. Um I think
076he sent that in an email on Sunday. Spring sports are starting next week. Granite Falls Middle School is wrapping up some of their winter sports. Empty Bowls has been rescheduled to March 15th. Um one thing that's happening right now at Granite Falls High School is the battle of the classes. And if you haven't had a chance to engage or be a part of any of that, I I ask you to do so. It is such a cool event. I was able to come last year. Um I'd been hired maybe I don't know a few days before or something. And it we were we had a volleyball game last night. Um first of all, the volleyball was decent. I was kind of surprised. I was like, "Okay, these boys can play." And then um tomorrow night
077is flag football and Saturday night is the main event. Our students do such an incredible job. That's a picture from last night with my awesome sideways photography. Um, but it is, you know, students are wearing their class colors. They get to keep that class color the whole time that they're they're going. I loved when Mr. B told me about it last year. And it's that bridging that gap between winter and spring, which can be a nice kind of a long, you know, time in between. And it's just this really cool. There's spirit days, there's other competitions. Um, the decorations are fantastic. The energy of our students is amazing. And the freshman almost beat the seniors last night in volleyball. It was going to be the upset of the century. So, are you a sophomore? Sophomore.
078Okay. Yeah, the sophomores played really well in volleyball last night. They were amazing. But it is just super fun to be there. So, can't wait for tomorrow night and super excited for Saturday night. My daughter's not happy because she actually has to work and can't come. She wanted to come see it all. So, thank you to Granite Falls High School. I sent the staff an email today just, you know, it's when you're there, there's hundreds of students there and it's it's really cool. It's a random Tuesday night and they are excited to be there and so many staff give of their time and energy and talents to make that happen. So, huge shout out to all that um plan that and make that um happen, present company included. And that is it for my superintendent
079report. All righty. Thank you. You bet. Um, next is item number 5A, items from the floor. Um, and I hear that we do have public comment today. So, please bear with me while I read our little policy here. The public comment section of the agenda is an opportunity for people to address the school board. Since this is a business meeting of the Granite Falls School District Board of Directors, the perfect purpose of public comments is for those interested to communicate with the board of directors about items on the agenda or specific work within the scope of the school district. This is not a time for the audience to address each other. People may submit public comments for a schoolboard meeting either by reading their comments aloud in person or by submitting their comments in writing.
080The board reads all written comments which are later attached to the meeting agenda and available to the public on the board doc's website. If you are presenting your comment in person, please begin by stating your name, your city, your relationship to the district and the item or school district topic you are addressing. We request that if your comment consists wholly or partially of text verbatim from an article, an online post, an excerpt from a book, etc., You simply send us the link to the text and spend your comment time telling us how this information relates directly to district work. Please limit your comments to 3 minutes. If a comment becomes too lengthy, I may need to interrupt. Please make your statement in a civil manner without disparaging, name calling or otherwise targeting any one person
081or group in the district. Similarly, we ask everyone in the audience to show respect by listening quietly without talking or whispering to each other so that everyone can hear each comment. The board does not typically act upon items brought forward during the this portion of the meeting at this time, but may be followed up by the board superintendent and our staff at a later time. The board also accepts comments and questions at any time through email. We read each email we receive and appreciate the time and effort it takes for those who write them. So, welcome. Hi, my name is Marcy. Um, I'm Sophia Hammond's stepmom. Um, and I had the pleasure of talking to the superintendent last Friday of an issue that we've been having since the beginning of the school year with her
082math teacher at the time. Um, she basically was teaching herself geometry, getting told that she needs to go ask a student for help. When she went to him, he had ripped up her schoolwork saying, "You have to redo this." Um, I went to I Oh, the other one was her IEP. I emailed him because her IEP accommodations weren't being met and I got a reply of well I normally focus on the normal kids not the IEP kids. Um so I had gone to the her counselor and she had told me well in order to transfer out of that class I have to rearrange her whole schedule. Um she had come to me upset that she did her schoolwork handed it to him the next day. She's like you know why did I get a zero?
083I turned it in. He said he didn't get it. Made a comment to her about another teacher's dog. And then maybe you shouldn't be eating around your dog and they wouldn't eat your homework. I don't lose things. That's when I had emailed Mr. B saying, "Hey, this is a bigger issue." Um, and then I also reached out to the superintendent. I know she had reached out to you guys. Um, I just wanted to kind of say what my side of everything is and if you guys had any questions. Oh, sorry. But I have to say that since she's been in a different classroom because Mr. B was able to do a switch, she went from getting C's on her test to A's in one year. So, okay. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you,
084Mercy. Okay. Item number um 6A, unfinished business. The second reading to adopt policy 2029, animals as part of the instructional program. Any comments? These are all second readings. So, yeah, I don't have any. Okay. Okay. Is there a motion? I make a motion that we accept the second reading to adopt policy 2029 motion as part of the instructional program. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. All in favor? I. Uh 6B, the second reading to amend policy 32053205P, sexual harassment of students. Any comments? Nope. No. Oh, I'll make I just and I alluded to this last meeting. I guess it just I don't I can't remember a time in history that that protections were removed from a group of people. I it it breaks my heart and you know and I again I understand the
085um the system that we lived in as far as right my my authority is part of and extends only as far as this building and and this isn't coming from us and it's a recommendation from WASDA but um I I guess I when I signed up for this board I never thought huh one day I'm going to approve removing protections from people I'm going to move the bar back instead of forward. And it feels extremely surreal and disappointing and you know there there's a lot of positive things that we do as board members and things we get to to see and be a part of and this would not be one of them um these next policies. So um that's my two cents. Okay. Anything else? Okay. Well, I will make a motion then that
086we pass the second reading to amend policy 3205/3205p, sexual harassment of student. Second. The motion has been made and seconded. All in favor? I. Okay. Item number 6 C, the second reading to amend policy 3211P, gender inclusive schools. I have a discussion on this. So just out of um curiosity, Superintendent Geese, so we as a board don't approve procedure, we approve policy. So I guess why are we approving a a procedure? We do policy, we do the what and you do the how. Um so is this something that we need to approve? Let me look really quick. Hold on. I'm gonna policy on second coming. Sorry to I believe because we're reverting it was just the procedure that was changed the last time. So when we go back and look like a lot of the
087model model like the model procedure the 3211P was the only piece that was changed. So I mean we you then it's just for your information. Yeah. The super. So then I would I would contend that we don't vote on it because technically you can achie you can change procedure without the enact of the board. That's just for information on then you're absolutely correct director Kerry. Okay. So then since we're on this is it okay if I move to remove this from the agenda? Um, I move to remove the second reading Tibidman procedure 3211P gender inclusive schools from the agenda. Second. All in favor? I. Okay. Moving to 60, second reading to amend policy 511511P, sexual harassment of district staff. Any discussion? Okay. Then I will make a motion um that we approve the second reading
088to amend policy 511511 P sexual harassment of district staff prohibited. Second. All in favor? I. All right. That moves us on to the consent agenda. And if there is new business. Oh, sorry. I skipped that one because I said nothing. Um item number seven a new business. There is none. Moving on to item number eight, the consent agenda. Um, is there any additions that aren't on this? No, but there was four added later today. I don't know if you all got chance to look at it. Um, also they're not on this. They were on board docs. Yeah, they're on board. Okay. So, yeah, then I move to accept the consent agenda with the additions provided in board docs. Okay. Second. Okay. It is unanimous. The consent agenda. Oh, I got a vote. Oh, I say
089okay. All in favor? Hi. Hi. Okay, so with that, we'll move on.