Issaquah School District Board Meeting 9/11/2025

001Okay, thank you. We will begin the next section which is on public comment and we will start with a few introductions. Superintendent, we have a new administrator introduction. >> Great. Thank you. And I have Dr. Shireen Carver coming up to uh introduce a new member of our special services team here at the district and we're very excited about that. So I'll let um Dr. Carver. Um, take the mic raffone at the podium. >> Good evening, superintendent, school board, and school board student representatives. I am pleased to introduce to you Jen Caserino, our new director of special services. Miss Caserino brings over two decades of distinguished leadership in public education with specialized experience in special education, early learning, and inclusive program development. Jen previously served as an ECAP senior administrator at the Washington State Department of

002Child, Youth, and Families, and she has previous experience working alongside and with the Northwest Education Service District, OSPI, and Snomish County as an early learning director. Miss Casarino combines experience in compliance, datadriven decision-making, and systems analysis with a demonstrated commitment to equity and staff development. We are excited to welcome her as she transitions into this role as Dr. King transitions into her role as our integrated director of MTSS or multi-tered systems of support. I'd like to introduce you to Jen Casarino. Thank you. It's a pleasure u to be here and I'm so very uh excited to be a part of this team. Um, thank you so much for uh welcoming me into the Isiqua School District. I'm excited to get started and um we're going to do great things for our early learners and all

003of our children who um need specialized services within our district. So, thank you. Um Jen, would you please uh come and introduce yourself and shake hands with our board members if you can join us over here. Great to start out early in the year with some new introductions. And I have the honor of doing just a few more. So, what I would like to do at this time is welcome uh and uh introduce our new 2025 2026 school board student representatives. Um are we going to have them come up or no? And so we'll start with our Gibson duo. So guys can say um your I will say your introduce you first and you can share what year you are and what you're most excited about with being a student representative. So first we have

004Milo Walsh. Hi, I am a junior at Gibson and I am super super excited for this year and I can't wait to learn all about what what we're going to be doing this year. >> Thank you. Micah Pio. >> Hi there. Yeah, my name is Micah Paio and I'm a junior this year and I'm really excited to start doing this program. >> Thank you. Next we have from Isiqua High. We can both step up there. Start with our returning board rep, Ava. Uh, hi, I'm AA. Uh, like was stated, I'm a senior at Isco High. And I'm also really excited for another great year and to hear lots of different perspectives and opinions. >> Great. Our new uh student rep for Miss Quai Rex. Hi, I'm I'm Rex Garner. Uh like she said, I'm from

005Isqua High School. I am a junior this year. And I think I'm most excited for uh a new team, a new um crowd of people to um to be involved with and to learn about how I can give back to the school district that's helped me so much in my education. >> Thank you, Rex. Next, let's hear from Liberty. We'll start with our returning student rep. Chris. >> Hi, my name is Chris Parishar. I'm a junior at Liberty High School and I'm looking forward to learning about all the new things our district is going to do this upcoming year. >> Awesome. And our new rep from Liberty. >> Hi, I'm Lia Dillip. I'm also a a junior and I'm very excited to see what positive change we can bring this year for our schools. >>

006Thank you. And from Skyline, our returning student rep first, Nilla. Hi, I'm Nila Natarajin. I'm a sophomore and I'm really excited to get to be involved with the school district this year. >> Thank you. And our new rep from Skyline. >> Hi, I'm Fid Jane. Um I'm a junior at Skyline High School and I'm really excited to learn more about the process of what happens at the district. >> Thank you. Um I'm excited to start out a new year with a new set of student representatives. We had the opportunity to have an onboarding session just before we started uh school board tonight. Get used to the agenda, how we'll work together, the import um the input that each of you can have into the work we do in policy to help us get a greater

007understanding of what we um what is landing in our schools and maybe what isn't sometimes. So, I'm excited to have this new full for group in full force and well onboarded I might add. So, always uh thank you to Marcel Howser for helping to arrange all of that. Um with that, we will move into um our regular public comment section. So, public comment is the opportunity for the board to receive public statements on items not listed in the meeting agenda. um to share. It is not intended to raise uh issues unique to any particular student or staff member or administrator, but is to provide insights more generally and of wider concern. Um at this time, do we have any uh hands up on Zoom? Okay, thank you. So, we will move on to our next

008agenda item, which is the approval of the consent agenda. Do I have a motion? I move that we approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> The consent agenda is a meeting management tool whereby the board is able to pass multiple items in one motion. Uh consent agenda items have been reviewed by the board prior to the meeting. Um since uh so all those in favor >> I uh any seeing none against uh the consent agenda is approved. Next we have the establishment of the regular agenda. Superintendent are there any changes to the regular agenda? >> Uh there are no changes to the regular agenda. >> Awesome. Thank you. So, as we move into our first regular agenda item, we will start with a recap of the board work study which occurred um prior to tonight's

009meeting. We had an opportunity to um hear and learn about the profile of a learner, profile of a graduate um and so this is our opportunity to maybe give some feedback. We did have all of our student reps participate in that session as well. So if you guys have some insights or anything you caught your interest in that conversation, I would love to hear from you in that session where AJ and I. So um director Taylor, I will ask you for your insights. Um yeah, it was really a very interesting um conversation that we had and again it was really uh centered around the fact that the state board is considering a new version or system of graduation requirements or what a profile of a graduate might look like. that work is currently going on

010at the state board level um with I think uh I think we heard uh a hope to maybe have a legislative um recommendation by 2027. Um, so it's, you know, I think a really important conversation, something that we've continued to have as a board as to how we can find some more flexibility in our graduation requirements and the system that we're operating now to make sure that all of our students are prepared for the big big world that's awaits them out there. And you know, we've had a lot of conversation over the last two years that I have been on the board in particular about trying to find ways to um imbue more life skills type learning into our into our system. But again, given that there is a lot of rigidity right now, at

011least the way I see it in in the uh requirements, um that can really be a challenge. So I think it was it's very encouraging to see the state also realizing that we had some conversation that that that's definitely a trend from across the state that the state board is hearing that uh um trying to find some more ways to look at that kind of learning and also think of learning in entirely new ways in mastery based ways or other ways as well. So uh great conversation. Um I also thought uh very interesting point that director Mullins brought up in that conversation about is there an opportunity to think about even how we divide up the credits within our system. Is there a way to use um how do I want to phrase this unit

012of measurement exactly where um perhaps there are some learnings that can be taught um in smaller units of time I guess is the best way to put it. Um but that would of course then give us lots of flexibility to maybe think of other programs and things that we could introduce over a long period of time or in shortened periods of times too. So, uh, I think our our district is very interested in that conversation and and re-imagining, you know, how how we would move forward and how we will define what success looks like for our graduates. >> Thank you. Any thoughts or comments from our student reps who are in the conversation? Milo had to work the mic again. Um, I thought it was really wonderful how you guys, both Sydney and AJ, were

013talking about how you wanted to make sure that our students were prepared not just for the world how it is today, but how it'll be in the future. Um, so I really appreciated that and the fact that we're talking about making sure that our students know real world skills like financial literacy and are able to do all these like scary adult things um, just like right off the bat. So, I I hope we continue moving in that direction because I think I've heard that from a lot of the students that um at Gibbs Neck. They've been really appreciating the like push for more financial literacy. So, I I hope we continue doing stuff. I think that was a good good acknowledgement from the board. >> Thank you. We'll go to Ava and then I'll come

014back. >> Uh yeah, I definitely agree. I think it was a great conversation. Um, some of the things that were brought up specifically I think excited me. Um, especially the moving away from the semester as a unit of measure for a lot of those kind of like life skills classes. Um, I know that we heard in the work study that a lot of the feedback we were getting from students who felt as though there wasn't enough flexibility in the curriculum was coming from students who were taking rigorous course loads and doing more than the required amount of credits. Um, and from my perspective at least, it feels like a lot of students pass up the opportunity to do things like taking personal finance at my high school in favor of things that would showcase more

015rigor. Um, and so if we were able to transition away from kind of the semester system for classes like this and reduce the need for students to choose between taking like AP calculus or personal finance, um, I think that would especially greatly incentivize students within this district to take advantage of those opportunities and feel as though they had flexibility in both fields. So, um, yeah, that's just something that I thought was really compelling. Well, >> thank you. I think we're at Rex then I'll come down, Christian. Um, sorry. The the microphone is on. Yes. First time using it. >> Put a little bit. You can put a little bit closer to you, too. >> Okay, there you go. >> Is this any better? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, yeah, I I really liked

016the I thought it was really interesting presentation. I think it brought up a lot of good points. I think for me personally and things that I've seen in my in the people around me is I feel really prepared to go into a a specified field and I see that in others as well whether it be a robotics path or a some other kind of STEM path. I feel like the schools uh the systems of school that we have here really prepare students for that but I think sometimes we lack in just learning those basic adult skills. And so I think we need to keep the foundations that we've built because we have so many so many good things and it's a really wonderful problem that we have. But I I really like the sentiment that

017uh board member Taylor said in saying um and and not or in bringing these two parts of our education together to create a holistic preparatory experience for all students. >> Thank you Chris. I thought it was a great meeting. I learned a lot. Some of the things Avis said were great things and I took away those things as well. Um, I really liked how we compared ourselves to other districts and what they were doing like with St. Brain. I think that was a great uh way to see what are other options and what are the ways we can be successful. The other thing I'm really excited about is uh this idea of like being more open about the end goal and presenting it more towards the beginning and being like, "Hey, this is the ultimate

018outcome." I feel like going into high school, I wasn't really sure about it, but I feel like, you know, this is something that if I were to see, I'd be like, "Wow, like I I can do this." And then the last thing is um everybody wants to be affiliated with winners. I'm really excited about, you know, really showcasing our strengths and, you know, really claiming our wins as a district and being more uh >> being more open about that stuff. So, it's a great meeting. And >> um I agree with everyone that was a really interesting meeting but while hearing that I just felt um I was wondering about like the application of maybe considering different lengths and semester long and longer and things like that could also make it more difficult for students to

019think about how they're going to get to the end result um like long term. I know just um this year being an IB diploma student, creating my schedule was a very stressful thing and trying to balance all my all my credits and high school graduation requirements and everything. And of course, we want to allow students to have more choice and what they want to learn and where they want to go. But I also think that maybe some looking at the structure of how we choose these and how we organize it could be um important for this. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Good job. Look at how strong you're starting out that good onboarding working. Um, yeah, it it was a great conversation. I'll add my comments then I'll turn over to you, superintendent. I I

020uh along with Chris, I think it was a really good example of um another district similar demographics and how you know it wasn't just about adding more choice. it was also about closing gaps and seeing more progression for students. So, I think we have a good opportunity to leverage some of our upcoming conversations if that's possible. If there's some structure or framework we could start to share um as the school board will be having some uh town hall sessions across October, I would love to use that as a kickstart of what will be significant community feedback. So, uh good conversation, superintendent I think that the um conversation was great and I love that we had our entire student rep um present uh and then we had our whole executive cabinet present and listening and we

021had some people at the table and some uh not but we couldn't fit everyone at the table. I was appreciative that we had Dr. Randy Spalding from the state board of education to present on the state work for future ready as it's we are not alone in thinking about this. Um, so it's welcoming. It's very welcome to have that perspective statewide and to see how this might connect to the future and what those implications are for requirements potentially from the legislature. So, it's helpful for us. I think we are doing incredible work. Um, we have several examples of not only amazing impact um and experiences across all of our high schools, but in particular, we also have uh shown that there's a way to do things differently um through focusing on mastery. And I think

022that's um we talk a lot about mastery. What is mastery? Mastery is not the same as proficient. And we have different language that we use for testing, for assessments, and also when you master certain skills, it means you're confident and ready to go forward. And those transferable skills are um are life skills, but they're academic skills as well. You know, effective communication, collaboration, creative thinking, problem solving, uh big data analysis, and that's really an important one because of the use of AI and uh how AI generates content so quickly. We need to be able to interpret that information, factch checkck it, source it, triangulate it, and really be thoughtful about what that means. So the skills of the future are here that are required and we need to support students to have those skills and

023to be able to adapt to the new skills that will be required. So, I'm excited about the conversation as well and um looking forward to helping partner uh with the board on all the ways that we can engage the community both in terms of sharing a bit about what we learned but also inviting conversation back um on that direction. And just to be very direct, you know, we have uh the board has set the what in terms of the results of our district in terms of policy and that's on our wall here and it talks about the general categories. But this I think gives us a level down of concretness which helps us both lift up what we're doing already but also see areas where we can augment and really enhance that experience to get

024to the um results and ends that the board hopes for. So thank you. Thank you for putting together um great conversation. So with that, why don't we move to the next agenda item of works in progress. >> Um yes, thank you. So uh at the last meeting, I did share during the works in progress several upcoming events, holidays, and education, religious and cultural celebrations for September. And there was actually one that I missed. And given that today is 911, I do want to acknowledge that this is Patriots Day. um on 911 uh in 2001 I was actually living in New York and working in New York City and today brings back a lot of memories for me. Um and Patriot Day was established by a joint resolution of of Congress um back in December um

025uh at some point. So when I think about what this means, it's just an acknowledgement something that we actually had missed in our upcoming days of remembrance and holidays. So I wanted to make sure I I named that because today is uh is 911. Um these uh past few weeks though um have been focused on the start of school activities such as curriculum nights, family conferences for kindergarten families, and many kickoff events for activities, clubs, and sports. All fall sports games kicked off for high school with several wins already under our district's belt collectively. Isaquai won their first home game last Friday against Tacoma. Um, Liberty is playing their first home game tonight against Inglemore. I'm not sure what the score is, but I'm not checking. Um, and um, Skyland's first home game is tomorrow

026also against Tacoma. So, those are just some, you know, it's it's good that we have wins and we've kicked off, but it's also nice to know when we're playing on our home turf um, and when we can celebrate our student athletes. Um the start of school has gone quite smoothly with really incredibly high attendance at a lot of the events reported informally and we don't have you know a formal way of tracking that but really great ways um I saw almost you know a significant increase at the foam party at IBE that was hosted by our um PTA and it was incredible event and as a I want a big really huge shout out to that PTA effort to drive membership. um families got a packet with a sticker that was green with a paw

027print as though it was a cougar because that's the mascot. And you might see them now on cars driving around. It says IVE with a green paw print sticker on on the back. Um they also had an incredible um curriculum night which specifically was student led. So students got to lead their families around the school checking off, you know, like a scavenger hunt. But it was great because it actually allowed each student and family to walk through their day into all the different spaces that they go to, sit at the lunch table where they eat, go to the music room, go to the gym, go to the uh recess to the outdoor play spaces and and where they line up for recess. And just seeing all the young people leading their families around just had

028the school completely a buzz. Um I got a a really good day in the life of an elementary student through that that experience. Um, I've been to almost half of our learning sites and have had some great opportunities to talk with families, uh, especially at drop off. We're still ironing out some of the arrival processes as cars make their way through, uh, their arrival, um, arrival places to drop off at school, but great great conversations with staff and administrators and students who are having just a really incredible start. Have gotten a couple emails directly as well saying, "Great start to the school year. Thank you for all the incredible work that you're doing and naming specific staff members, school members, and administrators. Um, my commitment is to lift up the great work of students and

029staff every single day. And I have committed to capturing that daily joy uh and posting on Instagram. So, uh, please follow uh the districts and my Instagram account if you are interested in seeing those moments of joy. And it's sometimes a mini moment, a day in a life, such as fifth graders, um, going across the crosswalk with their stop flag signs in unison and really helping make sure that other students were safe and talking about durable skills and and lifelong skills, being able to be a leader on behalf of your community is so so powerful. Um, so that's what uh we're looking at. And speaking of spreading joy and sharing more about the incredible work across our district, uh, our communications team launched the home room huddle. And the home room huddle, uh, thank you

030for those cheers of celebration. The home room huddle is a new podcast hosted by our very own Robert Miller. Um, and that explores the experiences, challenges, and successes of our school district. Each episode highlights a theme discussed by a dynamic panel of educators, students, families, or community members. The first episode, not surprising, was on preparing for kindergarten. Um, and this podcast really does and will talk about other topics of student well-being, teaching and learning, and also the future of education. So, um, these moments of joy and connection really help strengthen our community, affirm our community, and also promote the incredible work that is happening because people um don't always see that um in the in the ways that we can share with them and tell them that story directly. Um, so thank you to our

031communications team for that that effort. Um, last uh this week we had a levy advisory committee kickoff as well. And it was incredible to see there's a lot of members of this committee. We took as you know we we don't have any limits anymore on who who we take for our committees because we want to make sure we get as much voice as possible. And so that was a really strong kickoff and you're going to hear more about that um and our with our levy kickoff uh recap here. Um some of the amazing things that are also happening um really are reflected in um these are my final comments but they're bit longer because I want to respond to the state's public release but the the state released um our smarter balance assessment uh results

032and so I will say that what's really powerful to me is to be able to say what great work we are doing. Um, in particular, there were several points that were brought forward by Chris Reichall, the state commissioner, and yesterday's release uh gave us the first look officially into um even ISD, our district's comparison to um other peer districts in the state. And so, up until now, we've only had access to preliminary student data, which has to go through a validation process, data cleaning, and leading up to the state release timeline officially, which is yesterday. there's back and forth sometimes between the district and the state on that data and it can vary greatly from what we might see initially uh to actually what gets published because of that resolution and validation process. Um but

033now our team is moving towards a deep dive um by school as as well um as by different student demographics. And this analysis directly informs our school improvement plans. Um and we published this in terms of more userfriendly dashboards for for the board to be able to help set you know a set of inquiry and direction. And so we're excited about that moving forward. and we're getting this information out as early earlier, you know, than than we have in the past even because our school improvement plan meetings are earlier in the fall early in the school year now. So, um, one of the state takeaways was that Washington students perform consistent with and even better than their peers across the nation. So, great job Washington State. Um, and Isiqua students continue to perform among the

034very top districts in Washington. Whether it's looking at pass rates, growth rates, or the percentage of students scoring at advanced levels, our students are consistently outperforming statewide averages and remain competitive with the highest performing systems in the country. Um, uh, a state takeaway is that scores improved or remain steady in all grade levels in math and nearly all grade levels in English language arts. Our district mirrored those statewide trends and our results showed improvement or stability at nearly every grade level in both math and English language arts. And this really um reflects the great work of our teachers and the different work that we've invested both in terms of curriculum training and ongoing support. Um the third takeaway from OSBI is that the rate of year-over-year progress has returned to what it was pre- pandemic.

035And though the state assessment has gone from our perspective a significant revision um so scores are not as entirely comparable apples to apples um but we are also still trying to rebuild across the country from pandemic related learning losses. our performance levels are similar to 2019. So this shows that our system has not only recovered but has maintained high standard standards for student achievement. A fourth takeaway from OSBI or the state is that there are still persistent gaps that we must address in terms of opportunity and like the state overall overall we are seeing those ongoing uh persistent opportunity gaps. Uh while we're encouraged by some growth for students with uh disabilities there are also several bright spots in in closing gaps. we continue to see disparities for students with disabilities and for students identifying

036as black, African-American or Hispanic or Latino. So, this um work to address equity or opportunity gaps remains very central to our work ongoing and a lot of our plans are centered around making sure that we are finding those strategies to address and accelerate progress for all students and specifically those groups of students that I've named. Um, another takeaway from the state is that Washington is going to double down on math and we are aligned with that priority. Um, we continue to maintain a focus on our K8 years where foundational skills are built and we're actively reviewing math pathways which we've adjusted in the recent years to make sure we are aligning with um stronger both access to uh coursework that's rigorous and um providing the supports and scaffolds for students along that journey. And so

037we know we need to continue to do more as well on interventions that provide the um areas where we need that extreme support, but also maintaining a high level of expectations and rigor of course content to um support the students um that that need these skills. As we know that the as we heard about the the personal finance, you know, that's very much linked to math and analytical reasoning. So we appreciate that that's um something that we are going to continue to focus on. The state is also going in that direction. So, uh, we still need to go deeper with that data now that it's official and these results both affirm the excellence of our students and staff and also illuminate the urgency of our work ahead. So, we will continue to use that data,

038engage with um, our staff and refine our practices. So, that helps us make progress um, and accelerate that progress even further. So that's my recap of of what the state has published and what our quick turn on comparing ourselves to that data. Fantastic. I love those in We no longer have a public comment section. So we're going to move on to our next topic. We are going to move on to our next topic. >> We are going to move on to our next topic. Our next topic is a levy advisory update. >> We opened a public comment section. We do not allow anonymous content to be provided. You were informed of that and you were asked to remove the mask as well. Do not approach. We'll adjourn. levy advisory committee. They met on Tuesday for

039the first time to talk about potential 2026 measures. And I'm grateful for the volunteers and their engagement. Uh you'll hear more about this as our team um steps up, but Mr. Attorney will join us here at the podium. But as you um as you know, there's a significant gap between state and federal funding and the actual cost of running our district. The 2018 McCclary solution helped reduce part of that gap, but substantial voter approved efforts are still required. Um so local levy dollars from our three existing levy measures help cover this existing gap and those levies will expire unless um renewed by our voters and the the three under consideration are an educational programs and operations levy, capital levy which includes both technology and critical repairs and transportation. So, um, we've been, you know, we

040have been responsible stewards into our budget, um, decisions and taking a conservative approach through the board support will ensure our students continue to have exceptional learning opportunities. And so, um, I do invite people to get involved, you know, as we as we go from here through, uh, when those ballots are on the measure or those ballot measures are on wait, those measures, I'm sorry, those those initiatives and measures are on the ballot. Let me be really clear about those three terms. And so I'll um remind people that if you're not registered to vote your current address, you know, you should and you should let people know that so they can get involved. And then all of the committee work, you know, is made publicly available and it was a great group of people and a

041really great starter conversation. So kudos to the team. And with that, I'll turn it over to Martin Turney. Okay, testing our intern again, chief of finance operations. So, important part of this process obviously getting community uh feedback and we do part of that through uh this committee work, this advisory work. So, we did uh kick it off with meeting number one uh this week. We're meeting weekly and so we hope to have I'll show you kind of the road map here in just a second. Can you advance? Okay. So again, purpose uh providing feedback to the superintendent as superintendent forms her recommendation to you the board. Um we create these committees with a consensus model in mind as far as um providing the feedback and just any um decision-makings on you know how people feel

042on any related item and um had about 66 members sign up um around the district a variety of folks um excited because we also have a lot of student participation which uh is really neat to see and really comes in handy. um had a few folks couldn't make the first one, but we know they're going to be there the next night because uh they let us know that. So, I think everyone's excited uh to continue. Go ahead. Here's the meeting road map again. Uh meeting number one, we obviously wanted to start with some introductions to the process and ourselves. um kick off some basics in terms of school funding, what our levies, you know, what is this kind of all about, what tax rates look like. Uh and then we got to talk uh quite

043a bit about a potential transportation levy. Um meeting two was all about technology and or excuse me, will be I'm already getting ahead of myself. Technology and codecore repairs. And then we're going to work into meeting number three, which would be dedicated to the educational programs and operations levy solely. uh meeting forest heat up is kind of the culmination of everything bringing it back together and uh uh potentially having a preliminary package recommendation uh with that consensus model used to see how the community feels about it. Um we have meeting five reserved for kind of an after um fact communication um feedback loop and then we do have a kind of a buffer meeting six that we hope um won't be needed but we obviously would try to use that if we need to to

044get as much feedback as possible. Um a little bit more about that first meeting. Like I said we went to introductions and foundation. Um what was really neat is that um we had a lot of time for folks to talk not only to tables uh but as a large group um pepper us with a lot of questions and opinion and I think we uh were able to get quite a variety of uh feedback from around different regions of the district, folks from different backgrounds. Um and so that was really neat to see. And so we're going to take that feedback, we're going to use that as a jumping off point for our next meeting um and then do a similar um routine. and so we can collect information and analyze that going forward. Um there's

045a little link here to remind folks where you can get the information uh on the website and I don't know if Mark wants to jump in give anything uh his impression of the comm's um aspect. >> Sure. I'll be really brief. Um obviously yeah the on the website we've already updated the the first meeting with the presentation the agenda and a brief summary so public can actually hear about what happened two days ago. Second of all, we had outstanding student voice at this meeting. And I've also had some other members that shared that it was a very diverse crowd, a little bit different than past committee members, and they were glad to see in terms of regional and coverage from across the different feeder patterns that so I think we have a good solid voice

046that's coming across and um so that just got to keep it high level at that point in time. Again, more communication strategy will come out closer to our our fourth and fifth meetings. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? >> Yes, Dudge Taylor. >> Um, thank you for the overview. It looks like we really have a great cross-section of of folks involved and from around the community and that that's great. I'm sure we'll get a lot of fantastic input. Uh I just want to share the fact that earlier this week I actually I had a conversation with some community members that were really reflecting on the fact of how difficult it is to decipher the funding system we have within the state and how our district is funded and you

047know the fact that we are relying on local funds, state funds and federal funds to fund our district. And currently with current trends, of course, with the potential threat of the withdrawal of federal funding, the state facing some significant um shortfalls potentially again in the upcoming session. You know, our um need for levies, our levies, u maybe is even taken on more importance. So, I just think we'd be really well suited to try to do as much as we can to educate the public as a starting point as to provide the context of why we're talking about levy. We're going to be talking about it a lot over the next four months in these meetings. Um, so that our community kind of understands uh what role levies play in in our community. I mean in

048our district and what we use the money for and how we get the money and all of those things before we get into the nitty-g gritties of what this particular levy is going to provide. So anyway, just wanted to provide that context of a conversation I had had this week. Thank you. Any other comments, questions, superintendent? Again, thank you to the team for preparing. Uh the team, you know, the lead team is as Martin Turney, Mark Sherwood and and Marcel Hower and Jacqueline Downey in terms of our core planning team and then many others provide support and technical expertise. So, it's a large effort, but we appreciate that and um was a great start and looking forward to the next meeting. >> Thank you. See? Um, so next on the agenda, we have a monitoring

049report. Um, OE 8. Do I have a motion? >> I move the board accept the monitoring report for operational expectation 8 communication and support to the board as presented. second. >> Thank you, superintendo. >> Uh, great. Thank you. I'm uh pleased to present this uh operational expectation uh for communication and support to the board and it is a team effort as well. I want to make sure that I welcome a Jacqueline Downey, Mark Sherwood, and Donna Hood um just as as primary primary supports here to um join for any questions that might come up uh through board discussion and really want to say that this is um there were some policy changes to this as through the coherent governance shift that I think have been really well articulated from a board intent and I appreciate

050that and it allowed us to sort of go a bit deeper with some evidence but also to provide I think a crisper presentation of what that evidence could look like in support of the board. Um, in particular, I think there's a a strong section here on supporting the board in terms of its advocacy efforts um and and community engagement efforts. So, I um think that we've been able to show some good partnership there. And again, I'm pleased with also the changes in the co coherent governance model, what that has yielded also in terms of our ability to represent information and also better meet the needs of the board. So, um, you have it and I know that you've read it, so I don't need to go into all the details and open it up for

051discussion and any questions and our team is also available to answer additional questions as needed. >> Um, so why don't we start with just checking to see if there's any um public input on this particular agenda item before we get into board discussion. there's any public input in the room on this monitoring report. Seeing none and none on Zoom. Thank you. Okay. So, we can proceed with board discussion, board comments, questions on this monitoring report, >> Director Taylor. Um just very briefly, I in reading this monitoring report, I was just um nodding my head in agreement with almost everything that was written. And um I just make that comment from the standpoint of just um how pleased I guess I am in in the communication with the board uh on you know almost a daily

052basis. So I certainly appreciate that. I I recognize the efforts that um the staff makes to try to keep us informed, provide us the information we need. And I will say um I think that particularly over the last uh year or two since I've been on the board, been a lot of effort to um provide us more datari kind of information that we've required to uh in some instances shorten reports where that were perhaps rather wordy and long. But um all of that um those suggestions have certainly been taken and reflected back in the in the stuff that we've gotten. So uh I just really just a thank you for um the work that is done to keep us um in the know so to speak. >> Thank you. >> Any additional comments? Um, I

053guess I'd add from my perspective, I think this, um, the breadth of topic that this item covers is quite wide. And just to kind of underscore what director Taylor said, I am uh I am always surprised at sort of the level of various topics, various levels of things to be communicated about. And I think one of the most important things in the document for me is the no surprises. Um and that is hard to do in a space that has a lot of surprises um on any given on any given day. And so I think for me and um and then to manage very different individuals with very different schedules and cadances that we are working through at a given time. I would just want to communicate a level of appreciation of one how difficult

054that is to be able to scan the environment and share information that could feel very minute and small at the same time. things that feel quite large but may may end up in surprises being surprised of uh topics that become much bigger or or allow us to look for patterns in communication and so I would just um say that that section I think this is section 8.4 four, advise the board of any incidental information requires media coverage, um, claims, lawsuits, any of the material internal changes that it's really a wide spectrum. And, um, I have can definitely attest that I have not felt surprised at at any point in this last period. And, you know, I see and hear things around the bomb cyclone, around um, any number of topics. So, I know that that

055is a lot of work to try to distill, try to figure out what's important um and communicate that with speed and so I just share my appreciation for the work here. Superintendent, >> um yes, taking a scan of what's happening on a daily basis uh is is uh it takes a lot of work. I think you know our whole team is always absorbing information at all levels and so we're constantly also trying to refine our ability to make sure that we have ourselves in the know when we need to because you can't be together all day long uh consuming the same information. So um we are adjusting and things will adjust the landscape adjusts. So when new things come up we will learn from that and so I appreciate that and I do welcome and

056continue to want that feedback. um when there's a change then we can we can work on that and so please continue and I want to make sure those lines of communication are open. >> Thank you for that. Any comments or thoughts on this um monitoring report from student reps? >> I told you I was going to make sure you're included. >> Um awesome. Uh with that we have a motion so we can move to a vote. All those in favor, please say I. >> I uh any against? Hearing none. It passes. Thank you. Uh thank you so much. Uh next up we have the topic of school year calendars. I would like to make the suggestion that we go through these one at a time and do a motion one at a time. Um, that

057way we can we don't have to worry about separating them out if that uh makes sense to everyone. So, as we discussed in last school board meeting, we have an incredible opportunity to reook at school calendars within this current school year, which we would normally not want to do, but we wanted to make sure we're being responsive to some of the challenges we had in last year around the bomb cycle and extra days and um and other things with waivers, etc. And so super important topic. Did you want to start with anything superintendent on this one? >> Um I I appreciate the board discussion last time and I appreciate uh the work of assistant superintendent Donna Hood as well as uh team members on our team to supply that support and also our president of

058the Isiqua Education Association Donna and her team for coming back to the table to talk about um that feedback and and really you know look forward. Uh and there are a couple years that are a bit weird, right? there's no perfect calendar as well. So, it's always one of those things where uh but yet there seem to be uh you know a very finite set of options at the same time. So, it's it's a complex been process. So, thank you and I can turn over Donna if you want to have any framing comments about the process and some of the rationale. >> Yeah, I thought it would be helpful to review some of the data that we used and considered um when creating and bargaining these calendars and and yes, again, a big thank you

059to my AE IEA partners for sitting and counting to 180 with me a million times. It feels like um each of these calendars contains 179 days. Um and that includes the PD day that we anticipate the state will allow us to count as one of 180. Um per the PD waiver that was approved by the board in our last meeting. Each of those allows us to shift the end date by one if the waiver is not approved. So we do have some wiggle room for that. Each of them reflects the changes that were made to the collective bargaining agreement. Um the October PD day being removed again. total student days at 179 and the total staff days at 180. That does ease the compression on our echo programming that occurs over the summer and our

060other high school and other summer school programming. Um we have chosen in these calendars to continue with the Wednesday off before Thanksgiving. The community said yes um include that Wednesday at a rate of about 25% and another 34% had reported they would like to see this though it was not a top priority. So that was some of the data that we considered with that. The calendars retain embedded weather days. Um, in all cases, one or two occur before AP and IV testing. Those usually those tests usually occur the entire month of May. So, that makes May kind of um less of an option when embedding weather days. The community placed a really high priority on the embedded weather days at 82% of them saying that they liked those. There was really the most consensus in

061the community input on that question. Um, the other pro to this pattern that my middle school friends uh highlighted for me, it means try 2, trimester 2 is less uneven when those embedded weather makeup days are actually recovered in March. And so they really liked that that evened out trimester 1, two, and three. And the new calendars um newly code the additional end of year weather makeup days. We're aiming for some predictability as to the year's end, both for community and for staff. and we have to do, we know, three makeup days per event in order to be eligible for an inclement weather waiver. Each of these also maintains at least three of those weather makeup days um before Junth. About 63% of our community want us to end before Junth. Only about 6% were

062okay ending after Junth. That was a real not favorite item. Um 43% were happy to start school earlier to end before Junth. 42% said we really want to start after Labor Day and end before June 8th. That math does not work out. Um I wish that it did. The only real way to make that work would be to alter the February break significantly. Um but that has not had overwhelming support. Um all but the 2829 option A calendar also retain those two solid weeks for winter break. So we did not shorten the winter break at all. Um, that December break is the break the community most wanted to see preserved. If they were to shorten a break, or we were to shorten a break, the community said they were most open to shortening the February

063break at roughly 36%. Um, I will note, I think it was director Moraldo who observed that that 2829 calendar is complicated by where the New Year's Day fell and so that's what made the winter break particularly difficult for us to schedule. Um hence we have also provided an option B calendar for your consideration. Um option A remains the preferred purely because it allowed for more time for high school students returning to study for finals before facing those finals. That was one of our top reasons. Um also we figured there are some families whose parents go back to work on January 3rd typically and there might be some child care issues that people would face um if we did not return until later. So, those were some of the considerations that were really top of mind

064for us on that one. Um, in and I'll just end there. Those were those were the data points that we considered. I have a little more information I gathered in case questions come up. >> Thank you. So, as I said, we're going to go >> Well, no. I was trying to figure out if I do this one at a time, do I have to do public comment each time for each motion? >> Okay. Yes. Okay. I still think it's better to do it one at a time, but we'll do it that way. Okay. So, we will go chronologically from the top with a motion and a discussion and public motion public comment discussion. Okay. >> I move the board approve the revised school year calendar for 2526 as presented. >> Second. Thank you. Okay. Any

065uh dis Let's do any public comment on the 202526 calendar school year. Any in the room? Any none on Zoom? So, seeing none, we can have board discussion on the draft for 2025 2026. >> Uh yes, Director Gallinger. >> So, I'll go first just say that I would like there to be consistency throughout all of our calendars. So, if we're going to move to having three days that we identify in our calendar as uh extra days or makeup days, then let's stay up three. Four on some years, three on the other. Like, let's set a standard that we're going to have our community expect because that signals to them and we can communicate, hey, in general, if we have a long event, we have to make up three of them. And then you can know

066when you could actually plan something post the school year ending. I think that's what we ran into this year and even having an eighth grader like the eighth grade trip to DC had to get rescheduled and we lost a lot of students and so there was a huge impact if we knew and if our teachers knew like hey well we know we'll have to make up until X day then that's realistically when things can start to be planned that will be helpful for our staff and for our families. So that's a just a general thing that regardless of what happens with the calendars tonight, if we can just set that as a standard. >> Thank you. Yeah, that's so let's talk about that point because I think it is an interesting one. Um, and maybe

067it's a couple comments on just what you're hoping to communicate when there's three or four would be helpful to just hear that for a second. >> Yeah, the inclement weather waiver application that the state produces requires that you make up three days per event. So there is some impetus to have as many weather days calendared as we can in the event that we need them so staff know when they would be expected to report to work um if we needed more than the three. I did pull some data from previous years to see about how many days we've needed in the past uh just to be informed. Um in 1819 we had six total closed days and in 1923 total closed days. Of course, both those years we didn't have the embedded weather makeup day,

068so they were all added in June. Since that time, since 2021, we've had one day per year except for, of course, our bomb cyclone, um, which brought us up to five >> predicting weather. >> Donna, can you comment on the days after the school year? So I think there's the in-ear days which we have on the calendar but then there's the days after the projected end date and those the pattern there is that they're running up to the 19th. Yes. So uh that's why there's some inconsistency as director Gallander notes. Yes. Um is there commentary that is that um from your point of view and the union's point of view about just signaling that those are days between the end of day uh the end of school year plus the 19th or is there room

069to discuss how that gets represented on the calendar just as a as a formatting thing? >> Yeah, we really thought about the community desire to be done before Junth obviously and also wanting to maximize the total number of weather makeup days available to the system um that we could while still ending before Junth. And we really did hear and value the interest to have some of that embedded prior to state testing. And given our data about how many weather makeup days we've needed, it's most often been one. Uh sometimes we need more. So having as many as we can named in the calendar made a lot of sense to us and we knew that May is really offlimits. Of course, February and April have a break. So that was some of the thinking that went

070into it and March really does even out those middle school trimesters by claiming them there. So, I think just to follow up on that point, should the days after the end date just sort of be a hashmark versus colored in some way, like to communicate that it's potential if something goes terribly wrong versus that they're actual makeup days. I I think part of our desire was to make sure that it was clear to staff to hold those days in the event that they are needed. I think what has been problematic in the past is when they were not colored, it wasn't clear enough to some people and then they might have made travel plans that they felt they couldn't move. And of course, we need our staff to know these will be the days we

071grab first, second, third, fourth. um know that you will be expected to be there if these are makeup days. So I know it's important to our community that we get this year's calendar made up so I have less quibbles about that because I want to get this calendar across the finish line. So I'll reserve most of my comments for the next one. Uh but I uh am in strong disagreement for having two days off in March. uh because I think if the data shows that over the course of the decade our median number is one then I think we stick with one and I think that we share with community if not like if if it if we need more than one then we need more than one and I don't care that in this

072year because we're making multiple changes to the calendar that we would end on a Monday. I think we have a chance to rectify that in the future calendars, but uh not something that I'm going to hold this year's up over, but I don't think that going for two uh is what makes sense on a long-term basis. >> Okay. Any other Thank you. Any other comments, Director Taylor, from you on this year, which is why we're dividing them up? >> No. >> Okay. So, I understand the comment about trying to signal the need for them. >> Um, and I I wow I it gives me just the strangest feeling. I have no good reason why. So, um, we'll move to a vote on the current year. So, we have a motion. All those in favor approving

073the 2025 20226 calendar say I. >> I. >> Not voting for it. So you're going to say we oppose. >> Um I am but I thought you were going to say something else first. All those opposed. Okay. Okay. And is there I guess I'm confused because I thought your commentary is your concern was the next years. So is there a change to the current year that you were looking for? >> There is. I mean we've talked about that I feel like at nauseium. So that's why I wasn't going to like belabor the point in this year. >> I it would be helpful to maybe give more voice to it. So I think that in general we want uh our best effort at data to drive our decision-m and as I said if the median number

074over the course of a decade is one we either have one day we miss or we miss a whole bunch it's kind of like there's not really in between and so I think that having like it's one like one protects us two it's either we go one or we go like five and So two doesn't solve that either for me. So it doesn't it's not a two isn't a feel-good thing for me. Two is a calendar manipulation thing for me and that's not what I'm in favor of which is why I want to speak to that in the next year. I think it'll be more evident for why this year is problematic to me. But we've already started the school year so like we got to just kind of get this through the next year.

075That's why if we talk about the next years, I think that'll be more clear why this year could have looked different. Obviously, not because we started school year already. Meaning, as an example, if the modified calendar showed that we went to school on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we could end that Friday, June 11th. and ending Friday, June 11th since we started school in August 27th. That makes a lot of sense to me. So having the opportunity to end on a Friday, yes, barring weather, I get that. But especially since this school year, you may recall last school year, remember, we went to like June 27th. So ending two weeks earlier than that would be huge for everyone. That's why this matters to me. So this year in this current year that we just adopted, we

076had the opportunity to end on June 11th. We've chosen to end on June 15th, but we made that as a conscious choice and we did recognize that we actually could have chos chosen to end on June 11th. And that's why and so for next year or the year after that we're going to revisit, I will express more strongly my suggestions and concerns for ending that Friday. And yes, I understand that teachers have longer days after the school year ends, but that is their job. That's their profession that they've chosen to do. For our students and families, there is really important time for them to unplug and really prioritize. If we really care about the whole child, it is really about letting them have balance for the other things beyond just what they're learning in the

077classroom that are really, really important for all of our students. >> Sorry, you wanted to hear you heard. >> No, that's helpful. What I'm I'm going to go to the next question. My next question which is uh as of today we are still technically operating under the calendar we brought into the year with October 17 as a out of school day. >> That is correct. And the but we talked about last meeting that that would be a inschool day now as a preview to today's meeting leading up to this today's meeting. >> Correct. But with a with a not passing that motion we remain with the current calendar which includes a non- studentent day on the 17th. Correct. >> The motion passed because it's a majority vote of the quorum. Okay. All right. So, let's

078move to the next one. >> You would like a motion? >> I would. >> I move the board approve the revised school year calendar for 20 26 27 as presented. >> Second. Do we have any public comment in the room or on Zoom? We have one on Zoom. Hi, my name is Cammy Crest. I'm a teacher at Sunset Elementary. Um, this is a comment pertaining to the 26 27 calendar and the other ones um that are after it. Uh, I noticed there's a couple days that are Mondays that are added as non- studentent days, either as teacher work days or as um built-in weather makeup days. And wanted to provide the uh input that there's already several other Mondays that are holidays and uh Labor Day, Martin Luther King Jr. day and Memorial Day. So,

079um it'd be nice if it could be a different day that is off other than Mondays. And then looking at other future years, um, teacher preference I believe would be, at least for teachers I know, to not have the first day of school be on a Monday, which I have different tabs. So that might be a different calendar other than this one, but for the other ones too. Thank you. >> Thank you for your input. >> Hey, board discussion. >> Okay, so I'll kick this off. So for the 2627 calendar, if we can put that on the screen, this would be a good example where it's currently slated to end on June 15th. So if you remove one of the weather days, that takes you to June 14th. And if we're just absolutely going to

080hold on to this Wednesday before Thanksgiving in order to go another weekend in June, which I still don't understand, but if we're going to do that, then at the very least, let us start school on August 26th. Since families already have to come back from summer, >> let us give one day in summer for an extra weekend in summer. And that's what I think makes sense to me. And so I don't understand why we're wanting to hold summer hostage is what it feels like frankly since we've been talking about this calendar so much. uh and why we're trying to like die on this hill of ending like into that third week in June when we have the chance to end in the second week of June. So that better align with the more days we

081get in before testing day in May, the better it is for every one of our students. So we all know that the value of school days after May is just less. It's not zero, but it's less. So the value of days before testing in May is more. >> Thank you, Director Taylor. >> Well, that that argument makes sense to me. I have two questions and one of a my first question predates my time on the board which is when and why did the practice of the Wednesday including the Wednesday off before Thanksgiving. So I think I've asked this question before but can somebody just give me a quick history lesson how we got there because I too have always questioned that to some degree but >> I don't have the background for that. >> We're

082only two years into it. It's just >> Oh, so it was right before I joined to be clear. Okay. >> We we had that argument >> back there up here like lots of arguments about that Wednesday. >> So there was uh I'll give you by impression you can go back to the data. So there were significant calendaring discussions post intra and postcoid on calendaring and there was a survey or more than one survey completed of community preference on which almost on every topic our community uh has interesting and different preferences and how do we fit all the things that the that is uh the community wanting into into a bag is 180 >> uh day that was then complicated by the addition of adding the federal holiday at Junth >> making the bag smaller. So,

083uh, there was a lot of analysis of the data and, um, including would we to try to get more days in, shorten February break, shorten the December/ January break, and a desire for uh, a longer break, particularly for those that travel at the Thanks at the Thanksgiving break, the days around Thanksgiving. I think um D gone through what some of that data was at the at the top. >> Um I also if you could just go back to my understanding >> is the whole goal of multiple makeup days is to be eligible to receive waiverss. >> Correct. Without the multiple makeup days included and calendared within the calendar, we would remain as we were last year unable to access waiverss, therefore driving later into the year. But if you could put commentary to both of

084those, that would be helpful. >> Um, I'll just review here really quickly. When we did ask the community, they said yes to include the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a day off for students at a rate of 25%. Another 34% said we would like this though not a top priority. Um and we have found that staff and student attendance was still quite strong on that Monday and Tuesday. Um we found that there are just more and more families traveling um including staff families on that Wednesday. Um as for the weather makeup that is true. It is three makeup days per weather event. And one of the things I don't have in my data um about our closure days, it is not clear to me how many events caused us to close in 1819 or 1920. So

085we would have potentially had to do three makeup days per event. Again, um so I'm not entirely certain how many events were were involved in those bigger years. Um of which there are now three that I have been able to track down. >> That was the uh month of February that we went to school like very few full days that whole month. And so the state wavered a bunch because it affected most of Peter Sound. So it was the snow just didn't ever stop in time for that to melt on the ground. Uh great sledding though. >> Uh but director Mullings it's not it doesn't have like three posted on the calendar. Like for instance we only had one posted on our calendar. We made up three this year. That's why we got wavered for

086the fourth day this year that we just made up at the end of >> we were wavered for less than our neighboring districts. >> But that was due to BA hours, not due to >> which is an additional component we have changed. Yes. >> Correct. >> Yes. And my understanding is these two things go together. Correct. >> In order to achieve the outcome that would have mirrored our neighboring districts. >> Yes. >> Right. But my point is it doesn't have to be listed. It's it's not about a day being listed on your calendar is what my point is. Like that that doesn't matter. >> It's not about what >> if you have a day highlighted a certain color on your calendar is irrelevant to whether you get a day wavered is what my point is.

087>> I I don't understand that. Well, I mean it's not meant for me to understand. My goal is to ensure because the uh what I will describe as the outcry larger than all the other outcries was last year and our different treatment than our neighboring districts and how we were able to take advantage of reclamation of weather days. And so my deepest desire is to match both the hours and the planned makeup days to ensure that we are on par with neighboring districts to achieve the same outcome which we could not do last year. Um I I I have always been in support of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I remain in support of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Um, at the time we went and looked at all the calendars, I counted every summer and how

088many days summer was for the past 10 years. And regardless of the start and end, we had an equally length of summer. Now, there are individual preferences for how those days fall, whether we're able to take advantage of them beginning end of August or earlier into June. To me, that's a personal preference. my what was important to me is that we had the same length of summer which we have. Um so again what's critical to me is I want the to take advantage of the same ability with the change in the BEA hours and the planning for weather occurrences so that we are on par with neighboring districts which to me this calendar represents. I'm chuckling just because I I never thought when I joined the force a years ago that that the issue of

089calendars would flumx me more than anything else. But um and I feel I'm not sure I'm even clearer of mine now than I was two weeks ago when I was trying to have this discussion with co. So, um I guess for this calendar though, I would support um Director Gallinger's suggestion that if we bump up a day into August, what I'm hearing is that would get us to ending on a Friday, which would make sense. >> We would have to do two things. We would have to bump up a day and remove one of the weather recovery days. It is a two move change. >> Okay. Okay. Now, help me with that again. So, if we remove the weather recovery day, that jeopardizes does not jeopardize the waiver because we have the other two built

090in in the end. >> Is that correct? >> It doesn't jeopardize a waiver. None of us knows what the weather will be like in 26 27. >> Sure. No, I understand that. But that Okay. And director Gallinger, do I hear you saying that you would prefer to move to the 26 on a start date and remove one of the makeup days? >> Yes. If the median number that we use over the past decade is one, then I think we should have a calendar that represents one. If we're going to align with our neighbors, if you look like a Washington school district calendar, it's one. I would support that. >> Who would support? >> Well, I would I guess I would land on two, but that's we were just trying to talk about being consistent. So,

091um I just support the idea of trying to get out on the 11th and however we can do that makes sense to me. >> So, is there any more discussion needed on this calendar? >> Oh, >> yes. ever. >> Um, this is just a question I have as a student rep coming into this conversation for the first time today and I know you've discussed it a lot, but uh when we're thinking about trying to end in June earlier, I am also wondering like why we're hesitant uh to kind of move that August start date forward a lot more because I've had a lot of conversations with like AP teachers and students and I know that in AP and I'm assuming IB courses as well after AP testing. Uh there isn't a lot of content. Um

092and so I was just wondering what that conversation was or looked like. >> Yeah, I think that's why you're here. I don't think you're I don't think you're hearing hesitancy about that necessarily because that's what you heard me saying about that's what you talk about May in the month of testing and days before May valuable, days after May less valuable. In this particular batch of calendars, we also didn't adjust the start dates that had been previously voted yes. So, we didn't change them. Instead, we shortened the year. Chris, let's get started into this. I want to uh hop off or bounce off what something director Taylor said. I don't think going into this role a calendar was something I'd be arguing about. Um but going back to what director Gallinger said, I think uh a

093day before May is arguably a lot more valuable uh just because with all testings and finals. Um whereas you know I can speak for my experience last year was it was after testing there was just a whole lot of nothing to do for the extra month and a half we were there. Um so just providing that. >> Thank you. Other discussion. >> Okay. So, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor? >> I. All those against? >> Nay. >> Do we continue to the next one or do we assume we will have that same discussion four more time or three more times? >> I don't think we'll have it, but the next one. Oh, hold on. I'm sorry. I'm behind. I don't have I have no >> So, I think I think

094we should entertain a motion. >> Getting there. >> I move the board approved the revised school year calendar for 27 202728 as presented. >> Second. >> Any com public comment? Any on the phone or Zoom because we don't have a phone. any >> you're dating us. Drug and mullings. >> I am aging myself every day. Um, >> start a Monday. >> Uh, board discussion. >> This one has a single day. It just by how the calendar starts, it ends on a Wednesday. And I get that there. I have this calendar. Looks like there was about one way to do it. I fully support this calendar. >> Yep. This is our leap year. >> Yep. So, I fully support this calendar. That's So the critical difference in this one is it has an additional day correct

095in the calendar. >> Correct. There was no practical way to make the rest work with leap year. >> Yeah. And there's no practical way to move it off of a Wednesday to get to the previous Friday. So and you're starting a school on a Monday and I absolutely recognize the teachers concerned about starting on a Monday. And I never quite understood why we start midweek until I was a teacher and then I was like and now I understand. So, so I get it and I empathize from Monday start. I really do. But understanding the limitations of this calendar, I I I think you're kind of stuck. So, I have no changes I had to make to this calendar. >> Director Taylor. >> Uh, I agree. No changes. >> Thanks for pointing out the leap here.

096>> Yep. >> Fun with calendars. Um, we have a motion. All those in favor? >> I I >> I Okay, that one passes. We have >> I'm getting there. Hold on. >> You actually have two options here. >> Okay. >> Oh, yeah. Do you want me to move on one for each? >> We can have a discussion before you make the motion if you'd like to do that. I am happy to open uh this calendar for discussion and then we'll make a motion after. There's no there's no rules. >> There's two. Yeah, this is >> any commentary or uh you would like to make on the differences or challenges between 2028 29A versus B. >> Yeah. So, I would strongly advocate for option B because we've heard really consistently from our community that having the

097three weekends and two full weeks at holiday is the first winter break is really important, especially for people that travel internationally. Uh we had two backto-back calendars, Director Taylor, probably about eightish years ago that were like what option A was and our inboxes got filled >> for those. Okay. Uh and that's why we haven't had them since and that's why you heard that was the highest priority in this in the community feedback was you know two full weeks at the first winter break that was overwhelmingly the direction that we get we get tepid like 5050 on February and you heard 25 75 on Thanksgiving but it's overwhelming about that and then I would say >> again Wednesday before Thanksgiving 55% positive I have to say like I'm comparing the same value of like how they

098I care about it. >> Yes. >> This year, this year the year we just finished, we went back to school at a similar starting date as the one that count option B is. So to for the worry about like the January part, I suspect most schools in our region will have a a calendar that looks like this. So, as you may recall, this past January of 20, >> yeah, it was the same. >> We went back to school on Monday, January 6th. >> Sixth. Yeah. >> So, I I don't think that going back Monday, January 8th, is that wildly different. We all lived through the calendar that we just had this last school year. I don't think people felt like, oh my gosh, we're going to January so late. And yes, the testing window for

099our high school students was compressed, but it'll be no more compressed than it was the year we just had. Any other thoughts or comments on A or B? >> Director Gallinger's >> Yeah, when I I'll get there once I get to a motion. We had to figure out which motion we're doing in a second. >> Director Gallinger's comments make sense to me. B seems like a better option. Um, well, as our motion maker, would you like that motion? >> I already had. See, I got it. No. Okay. >> Oh, one second. >> I move the board approve the school year calendar for 2829 option B as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any public comment in the room? If not, we'll go with Zoom. Okay, >> I take it there's none in the room. >>

100There is none in the room. >> Okay. Uh Cammy Crest again, Sunset wanted to voice uh support for option B and the idea of moving the start of the year from August 28th to be a few days before um so that it could start on a Thursday or Friday. Just again like do uh director Gallinger acknowledged the first week of school being a full week is I think going to be very hard on students. This week right now is our first full week and it's just seen the fatigue in students and we've had it's I think it's very helpful for students to be eased into it with a short first week and then a shorter week with Labor Day. So from a viewpoint of an educator, that's my opinion. Thank you. >> Thank you for

101your input. Uh, thank you. Any other board discussion? >> I'll ask this on the fly. So, you don't because we we we obviously look at how it aligns for the holidays that affects the kindergarten starting those. If we moved it forward one day, meaning if the whole calendar moved like August 29th was the start of school, >> June, >> and then you ended June 14th, which would still give us a total of 3 days before Junth because you'd have March 16th, June 15th, June 18th as three makeup days should we actually need them. That would then push the kindergarten start to Friday, September 1st. Is that even possible navigating around all the other things you have to navigate around the beginning of the year? And you may not be able to answer that right now

102in the fly. I get that. >> I mean, lots of things are possible. Is that ideal? Um, no. I I think one other thing we definitely considered at the table when we move back. Um, much like community doesn't like to start too too much before Labor Day, we also see a little bit of compression with new hire academy. Um, which backs then up to all admin. So everything we do really starts August 1 to launch the year. So the earlier and earlier we start the more and more those obligations for administrators are compressed a little bit and for our new teachers coming into the system. We typically offer about a 5-day new hire academy and we want to give them a little breathing room to get into their classrooms and and get established. So that's

103another component of it. Um a Friday start. I mean is that doable? Yes. anything. I love to maximize those named weather days. I think that was a shared interest just because we we often have seen ice causing also um delays and closures and and so that's just top of mind for us right now in addition to other big snow events. >> Yeah. No, it wouldn't be moving the calendar back. It would be moving actually forward one day. >> Yes. Sorry, I used the wrong terminology. I did understand you. >> Thank you. The question that I would ask is about K attendance. uh if families are new to the system and they have one child and they're starting K to start on a Friday then brings them into the long weekend I think they might forgo

104starting that >> but they're not starting on Friday remember they're doing the conference they they'll have their conference before that first day of school so their conference actually would be that Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday >> yes but and then and then there's the starting with new ones to school potentially getting into a small routine but then having to be disrupted again by a three-day weekend so I mean you know it's part of like it's good to get under the belt with kindergarteners. Two days of routines. I did see some kids learning how to blow their nose this week. So >> yeah, I I I would be fine supporting this calendar as presented in option B. I'm just saying like if there was some desire internally for there to be discussion about the Monday start. I'm

105not opposed to that coming back to us. I guess that's all I'm that's all I'm trying to cue clue in to. That's all. >> That's fair. That's >> Thank It's Thank you. >> It sounds like we might be ready for a motion then. >> Well, I made a motion. >> You did? >> Yeah. >> Oh, good. We have a motion on the floor. All those in favor? >> I Okay, so we were our only challenge is 2627 then. Correct. Okay. Is there any additional clarity or information that would be helpful in that one? >> I think I have what I need and I know how to find you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, let's keep moving forward. >> Next one is a three-year waiver for the 180day school requirement. I I'd like to just request

106as you consider this motion that with the um approval of one year, the district can submit this waiver for just the 2526 school year. So we can get that in motion. Um so we would amend our application to the state for the waiver. >> Right now it's expressed as a three-year waiver. We can apply for a one year and when we resolve other calendar issues for future years, we can put that in. But it it depends on the calendar being approved. So we can have those days and express. So we don't have those approved yet. So we can amend our application uh which has not been submitted yet because it's pending board approval to say a one-year waiver in the action being taken. And in the actual um application for the waiver, we would deselect

107the waiver days requested for the future school years. >> Okay. And so then with that, we would need to >> amend the motion language >> and swapping in a three-year waiver with for a one-year waiver for the 25 26 full year. >> Okay. >> Do we have to move to amend or can I just make the motion? >> No, no, you will make you will make the amended motion. >> Okay, I will make the amended motion then. I move the board adopt resolution number 1246 requesting a one-year waiver from the minimum 180day school year requirement of the basic education program for the 202526 school year as presented second. >> Any additional discussion superintendent? Um, it's pretty straightforward because we talked about it last time, but it's allowing us to move forward with this year's calendar

108and then to also then apply for an amendment to our BEA minutes as part of our cleanup of what we're doing to improve and enhance our year- round calendar experience. >> Amazing. Is there any public comment in the room or any on Zoom? Any board discussion or questions? >> See, I guess my question would be so then when the next calendar gets approved, this will also follow for >> the next two. Is that >> correct? It would. Yes, correct. I don't want to skip a year and go forward for three years out, right? So, we will just when the next calendar gets approved, we will put this on sequentially so we can uh afterwards uh as an option. Or is it possible that you could do just the following three years since you would have

109three years of calendars approved once the next year? I just I don't know if that's an OSPI possibility. So, >> uh, skip. Yeah, but skipping year feels odd to me. Oh, you're saying >> next year would have three Kers done. >> Correct. >> Yes, that's an option. >> So, one year and then a three year when we get to the next calendar. Um, any other questions or discussion with that? We have a motion on the floor. All those in favor? >> I That one passes. Then we're going to keep going. >> Keep trying >> to our 202526 BEA compliance report. Revised. I move that the board approve the revised 202526 BEA compliance report as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you, superintendent. >> Um, and this is the sequential step to follow after a calendar is

110approved for this year as well as then um the waiver submission because it's predicated our updates to our BEA minutes application and we do need to submit that soon. there's another change window to to be able to submit that to the state and it just makes adjustments based on what's been approved. Thank you. Any public comment in the room? Any on Zoom? Thank you, Stephen. Uh any board discussion? Seeing none, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor? I >> I That motion passes. Thank you. And now we can move on to legislative matters. >> Um just a couple two two uh notes. Um we are working I think as I mentioned one or two board meetings ago but anyway uh we're moving to uh try to get some time together with

111our fifth legislative district um uh legislators uh before the January session just to kind of have a conversation as to what's top of mind for us in the district get our legislature legislators input as to uh what their priorities are and then see if we can't come up with some good uh potential proposals for them for the next session that can be of benefit to the district. So, uh I think we've heard from Representative Callen and we'll have a meeting uh with her coming up and uh am waiting to hear from Representative Hall and uh Senator uh Hunt, but I am in contact with their legislative aids and uh we'll see if we can get them calendared at the same time. The goal is to have them all together so we can have a robust

112conversation. So that's uh issue number one. Number two, um Representative Zhan uh from the 41st is um holding, I think, if I understand right, bimonthly meetings now with the Lake Washington School District um and has extended the invitation to our board, legislative rep, to join those conversations as well as she's trying to ramp up and learn more about the educational space. uh and I uh took that opportunity to volunteer myself to do that and we'll participate in those conversations too unless others want. >> I'm just curious like why the 40 the 41st doesn't have like Washington. So just interested >> that I don't know that >> Belleview totally. Renton, yes. Washington, no. >> Yeah. And I that's a good point, but the the invitation came from Lindsay on the like Washington board. So maybe she's

113meeting with all the boards in the area. I don't know. I'll I'll I'll get some clarification on that. It didn't dawn on me at the time, but yeah. Good point. Nonetheless, I'll be in the room with representatives on I believe at some point. >> Thank you for that. uh for our student reps, old and new. I will clarify that normally we let you go around 9, but also know around legislative matters is a good place to also um make your exit if you would so choose. Yes, just making sure you feel comfortable doing that if you would like to. Otherwise, we only have a couple more topics. They get they become administrative in nature. So, >> just I know it'll be a little awkward the first day like walk out. So, this is this is

114kind of your moment if you need to. Although we're running we're making uh good timing today. So next we have announcements and correspondence. Are there any additional announcements or correspondence for the board to share? Seeing none, we will move on to calendaring and future agenda topics. Am I just sharing out the ones that are here? Okay, awesome. So, we um have solidified date, time, and place for the upcoming October uh school board town halls. They will uh occur October 16th, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Beaver Lake Middle School Library. Then we'll have October 27th at 6:30 to 8 at Maywood Middle School Library. then October 28th, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Isiqua Middle School. So, bless you. We will be able to get to the entire um district in that time. We also do have

115the dates now for NSBA's conference is April 10 through 12th in San Antonio. Um do we need to take any sort of action or provide any information on that one tonight? >> There is motion language for the town halls. Oh, we do. Oh, you have motion language for the town halls. >> And the the topic of those town halls has been um proposed by the board to make that clear as well. That was mentioned earlier. >> And it'd be great if we could invite our student reps from the respective feeder patterns. >> Oh, yeah. >> To attend those with us. >> Okay, great idea. >> And Gibson can choose to go to all of them. I was not paying attention. What am I making motions for? >> Uh, we have to formally calendar the October

116town hall. >> You got it right here. Okay. Thank you. I move the board schedule uh board town halls on the following dates and times. Thursday, October 16th, 2025 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Beaver Lake Middle School Library. Monday, October 27th, 2025, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Maywood Middle School Library. And then Tuesday, October 28th, uh, 2025 from 6:30 to 8 at the Isqua Middle School Library. >> Second, I need I think we need to vote. Uh, all those in favor of those dates and times >> I uh thank you for NSBA. Did we need a specific action? >> No, >> I think it's just head nods that that there would be interest in going and then we could work through the process for that calendaring as well. Um, I did want to make

117a note that um the ASUG GSV uh scholarship process has changed. which I just got notification about that today. Um, anyone can nominate anyone to attend and um there are no more just package scholarships by institution. So um if the board we can we can add that to the agenda for next time that if the board wishes to be nominated for a scholarship we can put that forward on behalf of board members although I do believe it conflicts with the public school vacation that we have on the calendar. So there's one more item here. I >> 3031 >> I have no detail on this uh former student request for interview. Oh, so are we looking for a board member to have this conversation? So, if anyone is interested, we have had a request from an

118uh 2024 ISD grad who would like to talk to a board member uh in the policy tech space. They're both looking to implement existing technologies to automate workflow and streamline administrative processes within existing governmental structures. And they would love to set up some time if someone is interested in having that conversation. Sound like we need to set up our new uh uh updated platform by which we can catalog all of our stuff >> maybe. Yeah. So, does that sound like you would like to meet with >> No, I think that's the board president's role. >> Um I I agree with you. Um so, we will share uh that belief with the board president on our return. Okay. Uh thank you for that. Um, there's no