Issaquah School District Board Meeting 8/21/2025

001important part. Um, so I'm going to go ahead and just finish. Is there any public comment and then we will move to the agenda item that I skipped? Seeing none, thank you so much. Um, so we are going to do um an a land acknowledgement. Um rather than doing this at every meeting because we don't want it to become wrote, we wanted to take this as a special opportunity um to acknowledge um uh doing a land acknowledgement. And so uh thank you so much for staff that's coming forward. Good evening. My name is Elena Civasen and I'm the executive director of equity, belonging, and family partnerships. Hello, Jacqueline Downey, assistant superintendent. We want to begin by acknowledging the first people of this land since time immemorial. By doing so, we can better understand the history,

002present, and future existence of the land and people of this area. As we engage in this work, we ask that you reflect on your own place in time and space. Since the beginning of time or since time immemorial, the indigenous people have called this area home. They are called snowqualamy, a lash seed name meaning the transformers people. They lived along the banks of the rivers that ran free. And where the salmon spawned, they lived under the shadows of the mountains. in the canopy of the trees. and the shores of the lakes that dotted the land. Over time, people began to immigrate and settle on this land the Sonquali called home. These immigrants were drawn by the natural resources such as coal, timber and fertile farmland. The settlers forever changed the way of life and the

003land for the indigenous people. But the indigenous people continued to live in the lands they have always called home. They are not separate from these lands and waters. As more people immigrated to this land, townships were established. Some grew so much as to be called a city. Although many things have changed since the beginning of time, the Snomi people's relationship with this land remains foundational. They still live along the rivers where the salmon spawn, under the shadows of the mountains and the canopies of the trees and the lakes that dot the land. We acknowledge that we are on the indigenous land of Co Salish peoples who have reserved treaty rights to this land, specifically the Snowqualami Indian tribe. We thank these caretakers of this land who have lived and continue to live here since time

004immemorial. Thank you. The next item on our agenda is the approval of the consent agenda. The consent consent agenda is a meeting management tool uh whereby the board is able to pass multiple items with one motion. The consent agenda items have been reviewed by the board prior to the meeting. Any board member may remove an item from the consent agenda and place it on the regular agenda for discussion. Is there any um desire to remove an item from the consent agenda? >> Uh I'd like to remove item 16 and then does that mean I also have to remove item 17? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Do I need a second? >> Okay. Um, so once they're removed, we would need a motion for the consent agenda as amended. >> I move the consent agenda be

005approved as amended. >> I second. >> There any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? The eyes have it. Okay. Okay. So those items will be added to the discussion after um our discussion on the um budget. Okay. So with that is the establishment of the regular agenda. We have just already change made some changes. Are there any additional changes to the regular agenda? >> No other changes uh aside from the one that was just made. >> Right. So the first item on our agenda is to move into a public hearing. Do I have the documentation? I just basically say we're moving into a public meeting, right? Okay. So, I'm going to open up a public hearing in regards to the budget. The 2025 2026 budget is now open. Good

006evening. Uh tonight we have the board resolution 1243 for the 2526 budget. Um it outlines what the different funds that we have in the revenues and expenditures. Um as well as the the levy capacity. Um in also included is the 4-year outlook and the MSOC disclosure uh which shows the state funded portion which is 27 million uh our budget expenditures of 44 and the difference of 16 million. So we're available for any questions and we also had a lengthy presentation um on the board meeting prior uh with um where we had a public hearing. Thank you. Okay. Can I hear a motion? >> I move the board adopt resolution number 1243 which establishes appropriations for the 2025 uh 26 budget. >> I second. >> Okay. So next steps. So, is there any public comment with

007regards to the budget adoption resolution? Seeing none, we'll open that to um any further information that you would like to ask um or any further information that uh staff has to present. We've had the public hearing. We've had an opportunity to review. Um, I guess the only question is are there any significant changes or any changes since our first public hearing? >> So, Mariah Banis, executive director of finance. No, there has not been. Um, I I did have a couple conversations with some community members who also were soon to be employees of the district as well. Okay, I'll open it up to any comments from the board. I would just say I really appreciate your team uh for the work that you do to ensure that we can serve students and families so the best

008that we can. I'm excited this is the first year that we are uh integrating in the board's desire for equity based budgeting in so we can drive more supports to our buildings that need it the most. and uh appreciate all the reachouts you do through fact meetings and uh otherwise to keep our stakeholders oppressed. So thank you. >> Any other comments >> Mullings? >> Yes. So, um, as we had a lengthy discussion at our last board meeting, which was the first public hearing on the budget, we certainly have the ability to go back and listen to that entire conversation. I will again and always plug the the completeness and the thorough nature of the budget documents presented including the guide to understanding the budget which is available for the public which goes through all sources

009and all uses of funding within the district. It is a highlyformational document that I will always just point people to as an item to um familiarize with how funds are used in the district which can be a topic that comes up frequently. Um I have had the opportunity to look through the material. I had all my questions answered in that first hearing. So I have no further questions. >> Great. Anything else? >> Comment as well that thank you for the wonderful work and um thorough presentation that she gave at our last meeting. So thank you. I don't have any further questions. >> Thank you. And I did I failed to mention at the beginning that uh Director Taylor is out ill. Um he may be listening virtually um but I think his even his uh

010throat is very raspy so he said it would be limited in any speaking that he might be doing and he might be asleep by now because I think he was really under the weather. Um so I think um it's been great and you know for me I appreciate how the synergy between the board the board developing their guidelines and how those are addressed in the budget. Um so I think people often wonder what is the board's role in that and it is in our uh budget development guidelines that we provide for you. Um and then to be able to see it meted out understanding the difficulties in um just funding. Uh some of the areas I think that we highlighted last time was really the amount of um expenditures to support our um students that

011need the most support and how that is underfunded by our state even to this effect and I know that they've put more money towards it. Um it's really actually not the state. I shouldn't put them on on the hook for that because it's the federal government that promised to give us 40% towards the needs of those uh students requiring special services and they're at a whopping what 13% um overall and I think for our district it's even much lower than that. So um so I do want to thank you for all the work to be able to make sure that we're serving students best. I would say that I am hopeful that perhaps we can take a look at our budget guidelines for next year and get a chance to review them in November. Um

012while I still have a say. Um but with that I think uh that there are no other additional questions. Did you have a comment? I was going to say that makes good sense to look at our budget development guidelines um a little bit earlier than we have in the past primarily because there is a lot of budget uncertainty as we talked about with the federal government in the last in the budget hearing and that we've talked about uh since we started to see some signs of that uncertainty um late last spring. So, uh, as I think about the the good work and a great work of our, um, business office and finance team, uh, we want to get towards stronger multi-year planning so that we can start to account for what those, uh, federal implications

013might be. So, I think that makes good sense to try and review that earlier to get that guidance to help us navigate these next set of waters. Okay, with that, um, seems there's no other discussion. Uh, we have a motion on the table. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed. The eyes have it. Okay. We will move on to our next agenda item which is we'll start with a motion. So this is about the ratification of the agreement uh between the school district and the Isiqua Education Association. I move that the board approve the agreement reached with the Isiqua Education Association September 1 uh 2025 through August 31, 2028. >> I second. >> Okay, time for discussion. So, we'll start with Executive Director Hood or I'm sorry, assistant superintendent. >> It's

014okay. Sometimes I forget to >> I've been here too long. Yes. You've known several of my titles. Indeed. >> I didn't call you principal. >> That's right. That's right. Well, thank you. I am so pleased to be standing here uh today and have the opportunity to recognize some of my colleagues, including our IEA president who is here tonight. Um we are so thrilled that IEA has ratified this TA and it is now going to be a CBA. It's like when a bill becomes a law, it feels like. Uh and it's been quite a journey. I want to say a big thank you to both teams that worked really really diligently over the last several months to get to this place. And I think our our community should know that there was a real desire on

015the part of both teams to invest in the work of inclusion and supporting our students with special needs as well as the staff who serve those students. Um, and really increasing collaboration between our special ed and general educators to continue that work. um and to find a way to do that that was affordable, that was practical, that we could operationalize. So, there was a lot of time spent on that. And while Dr. Carver is not here tonight, she was a key um asset and advocate and brought her expertise to the table many times even though she wasn't officially on the team. Uh and we also really were pleased. Um our colleagues really wanted to see class size containment and reductions and were very reasonable in a lot of their other requests because that's a deep

016value for them and they really want to provide the highest quality service they can to our students, the highest quality instruction they can to our students. And they felt strongly that investing there um even if it meant not investing other places was the way to go. And so, uh, it took a lot of work to get there, but we got there and we are thrilled to have arrived at this place and really come to an agreement that all parties are very, very proud of. Right. Is there any public comment on this item before we have board discussion? Seeing none, we'll move to board discussion. Um, and I'll open it up to comments. >> Guess I'll go first. >> Okay. Uh I just want to acknowledge uh Donna, you and your team and uh all the

017work that you've done over it isn't just the past week months leading up to this and uh the collaborative relationship you have with Donna and IA and all the work that they have done and I couldn't be more excited about the shared vision and priorities that uh you discussed and were outlined at the table like to drive investments in inclusive practices to drive investments to decrease class sizes where we can. Like that's some amazing partnership and I can't thank IIA and its leadership enough for that. >> Thank you. And I I probably haven't used this word yet tonight, but I I will say that I think both teams were very creative in the solutions they brought forward. And of course, you know, not every interesting idea is is ultimately the one that wins the day,

018but there was a lot of back and forth that kept us um creatively finding ways to repurpose existing dollars to get to those goals. >> Thank you, Director Mullings. >> Yes. Thank you and big congratulations. Obviously, it's really important, particularly with school starting next week, is that we have um an agreement in place, which is amazing. But I love having this conversation following the one we just had around the budget. And these things work very they're very connected and our ability to manage the district um in a way that brings great outcomes for our students that supports um the professional development and inner workings of our staff and also does that in a way in which we can afford and continue to be um you know better than solvent as a district. I think that's

019a huge feat. It's a huge feat in our current climate and the climate of the last couple of years. Um, and I think it's just a real signal to the health of the Isiqua School District. So, I thank both all the parties involved and I just really appreciate um the collaborative nature and and the focus on really what's most important for the kids and doing that successfully within all the many many many parameters that exist in the organization. So, thank you. You're very welcome. Um, Director Coin, >> I I'm going to tack on to that and just again thank you. Thank our our our district leadership, our union leadership for their great work. And I think uh Donna, you put it well in saying creative in the in the solutions that were that were brought

020forward. And I think um I know there's a lot of work that goes into that. So, I just thank you so much because I think at the end of the day, we put students first and we put our staff first. We found a way to to really elevate everyone. So, thank you for the good work. Very welcome. >> You know, I talked I think um previously about really hoping that this year we we would would be more than just interest based bargaining but student based bargaining and I feel like that is the result yet still respectful for the people that are providing that service to our students that learning. Um, so to our facilitators of learning one day, I hope that phrase catches on. Um, that we understand that this is about um, really supplying

021what's what's best for students, but that we're also respectful and understand the absolute need for exceptional teachers and what can we do to ensure that they have the supports that they need uh, to do that work um, to the best of their ability. and that it really is um when they're successful that means our students are successful. And so really driving both of those pieces home. So those thankful for all of those that were involved in that bargaining um into the wee hours of the morning, not so we hours of the morning from what I heard. um that that in the end I think we really do have something that the community should be proud of the work um of what what transpired but also proud of the work that our district is doing to

022support students and um really thankful for all of that. So, superintendent, >> um, speaking of creative solutions, there are some other things that are part of the, um, agreement, uh, that was tentatively reached and ratified tonight by by the IE membership that I think uh, set us up for the next item that had been on consent as well on on a waiver and and also the discussion of the calendar uh, for this year, which is an important one to have publicly and and sort of hear from the board directly on. um as well as you know what that means for different minutes that that we have to count in certain ways for you know uh our our school day. So it might be helpful to preview some of that as a as another sort of

023creative solution but also win um as well. >> Yes. So in the work that we did at the table to really repurpose some of those existing resources. Um we learned a lot from the bomb cyclone. Uh some lessons we didn't really want to learn but we learned them. And so we applied those at the table and said how can we sort of set ourselves up to deal with this kind of situation in the future should it arise again. Um one thing we learned that was that um by consolidating our district PD time from the October and January days into one January PD day, we would become eligible to submit a waiver to the state of Washington to count that as a student day. So that has become one of 180 student days and I think

024that's really crucial to point out that that would then be counted. So that was one creative solution um that we came up with that we had not yet seen that gives us a little bit of wiggle room in the calendar again should inclement weather arise. The other thing that our our union partners were really really um shared a vision with us about we had a a low we met our basic education allocation minutes but we were barely above that minimum threshold and so in the event of inclement weather it became very difficult to apply for a waiver um because we needed to be further above that minimum threshold to be eligible for that inclement weather waiver. So to that end, um we agreed at the table to add five minutes to every elementary school and

025that is five minutes of student time, teacher student time, not changing ultimately the contracted workday, but rather the student contact time by five. And five of our middle schools would have an additional five minutes added and um would align then to the minutes at IMS. They already had that five minutes in their schedule. By doing that alone, that gained us an additional 11.9 hours of time with our students over the course of a calendar year, a student a school year calendar. Um, and the last half day of school will be a half day, which gets us another hour of time. So all in that's 12.9 hours and that gets us again above that BEA threshold for our basic ed allocation minutes and allows us to be eligible again um to apply for a waiver because

026we will have met the threshold even if we've lost some time due to snow or ice. >> Great. Any other questions or comments on this item? >> Okay, Sydney. So to that end, I move the board adopt resol. >> But we still have this motion, but we haven't voted on this motion. >> Oh, no. >> Dr. Coin, >> I just wanted to elevate, Donna, what you just said um related to the qualification for the the for the uh full waiver. I think that was something we heard from the community and again I want to thank district leadership and IA leadership too for their work on this because this is directly again we heard from the community going through the bomb cyclone last year. So thank you for the good work on that. >> You're welcome.

027Thank you. >> Okay. So have we been having a discussion before you made a motion to approve the contract? >> I I contract motion is made. The discussion we're having is actually the next topic. We've moved the discussion. Yes, that's into the next topic. So, we should close, but it's related, but >> yes. So, do we have any That's why I asked the question kind of the way I was. I was I was being nicer about it about Do we have any more discussion on the contract ratification? Okay. Hearing none, let's go ahead and take a vote. All those in favor of approving the CBA, uh, say I. I. I. >> Any opposed? the eyes have it. So that will be a relief to teachers who are already coming to the classroom and school starting

028in a week. We do have a contract >> indeed. Okay. So our next item that we have moved from the consent agenda onto the regular agenda is in regards to I have to scroll down to get the language of it. Uh the OSPI 180day school year waiver application. Do I have a motion? I move the board adopt resolution number 1245 requesting a three-year waiver for the minimum 180day school year requirement of the basic education program for the 202526 2026 27 2027-28 school years as presented. >> I second. >> Okay. I'm sorry. I'm um Is there any discussion related to this item? the waiver that was described. So now that we've consolidated those um into one PD day, that is now applicable for a waiver. And so this is any discussion on this motion to approve

029that. And I should probably add, director Maldo, it's also contains content and a focus that is approved by the state of Washington. That's also what makes it eligible. But just want to understand the impact to the calendar is by doing this that effectively turns a non- studentent day into a student day. >> Correct. >> From a lived experience for families. >> Yes. The October day is a school day then for students. Yes. >> Yes. Got it. And the other thing it does is it reduces the number of days by one that they have to go to school that they are currently going to school. >> Correct. 179 days actually then counts as 180 days for students. That is correct. So that shortens the year by two. >> Those two things will shorten the year by

030two. >> Yes. >> Okay. Any other questions or comments related to this item? Yes. So, obviously we're we're stepping through a set of items all that we're really excited about and that we believe is going to do a few things. And one one of them is, as you mentioned, um is learning from our experience with having multiple days out of school, building in more cushion into the school year, which I know has been a deep and important conversation. And so this this step is to help us move toward what will be building a new calendar year, a new calendar for this year. I think I want to say it that way because we will eventually when we work through all of our appropriate steps change the calendar of the current year we are starting in

031a week. So, I think I think that may feel disruptive to um community members. And so, I just want to pause on that and acknowledge that. At the same time, it's an incredible opportunity for us to make sure that we're having the most impactful school year as well as be able to take advantage of um things we couldn't in the past like waivers that would have allowed us to shorten our last school year. So, we um it will take us a couple of steps to get there, but it's really important work and this is like step two in in that process. But I do want to just acknowledge that there'll be some work to be done, which is the next topic on really getting to a calendar, and that there will be some level of

032in-ear change that I believe will be to the positive, but that's I think important to lay out. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. And kudos to Don and your team for navigating all of this complexity. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Could not have done it alone. There were many, many contributors. So, are there any other comments on this particular item? Hearing none, all those in favor say I. I. >> I. >> Any opposed? The eyes have it. So, we have now approved the waiver to be filed. So that does as discussed impact um through the contract language that affects the number of basic education minutes uh as you discussed the five additional minutes. Um as well as there will be an impact to the calendar which we can also discuss on this item. But our motion

033is specifically around those minutes because our operate um operation operational expectation number 11 I believe it is 10 structure of schools uh does request or does require the superintendent to come to the board if there's any substantial changes to start or bell times which this would be a change to bell times. So I will have need a motion. I move the board authorize the school district to increase the student contact time, also known as BEA minutes, by 5 minutes, at all elementary schools and 5 minutes at five of our middle schools. >> I second. >> Okay. Now, we have a motion and a second. Any um additional information regarding that or do you feel like you've tapped out on explaining that? >> That's it. my transportation friends um are eager to hear and and actualize

034all of this. >> Great. >> Is there any public comment on this item, this motion? Hearing none, um is there any comments from the board on this item? Director Gallinger. Oh, hearing none. >> Oh, so Dr. Mullings, >> I think it's important just as I'm the one who voiced the motion that what what we said is that it's uh we're extending the student contact time by five minutes at all elementary schools and by five minutes at five of our middle schools. And I know you mentioned this, but I just want to pause on it again. Why is it only five? It is only five because IMS was already there. >> Awesome. Um, and then I just think it's just worth restating by adding this time, what of our last year's experience would be different? >>

035We would have an additional 11.9 hours more in our BEA allocation. And one of the parts of a inclement weather application asks us to assure the state that we have met our BEA requirement um before they approve a waiver. So it is important that we are above the threshold and have some of that wiggle room um in addition to of course some employment weather makeup days. It's three per event that are required by the state in order to be approved for a waiver. But that BEA threshold must be met. >> And the and the amount of days that we would have to make up before we could go for a waiver is three if that correct. >> Three per weather event. Um unclear if OPI will ever change that, but that is the way the

036current application reads. >> Okay. Director Coin. >> And just to clarify, last year we qualified for one day. Am I remembering that? Last year we I am not entirely certain um how or why the state approved us but they did um I don't believe we actually hit the 3-day >> technically should have been zero right but we we did get yeah >> but we did get some >> I think they may have really wanted to acknowledge the very specific and local impact felt by this district >> y bottom line is we were approved last year for one waiver day and that's uh an acceptable uh decision by OSPI. Yes. >> To us, >> but this would this change would give us the potential of three. >> It would ensure eligibility. Yes. >> Great. Thank you.

037>> Any other questions or comments before approving this agenda item, this motion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? the eyes have it. So before we move on from this, so what this means is that I'm hearing um there will be some changes to the calendar. So that um we will be working through as a board on um what that looks like with the and that will go back to the the union for approval. Um so it is a it's a defined dance between that. Um, so we look forward to what that looks like, being able to appropriately give those days back to families and how do we best do that while still supporting students and their learning needs and the impact of incremental weather days on student learning. And

038so, um, we'll be coming back with that information as soon as possible. Um, any other comments? Um I think if the board wishes to recap some of the important discussions that have happened over many years now and um you know we know that there's some important guidelines and parameters that have been talked about but it's just a helpful opportunity to be able to make that visible again to the community and I think that I know that the board would be really uh I assume the board would be very willing given where we are in the timeline to even um host an additional meeting that's not on the calendar right now to be able to assist with a smooth effort here. Yeah, I would love to say that it would this is highly unusual deviation from

039practice and to not be to not have a calendar set as we get ready to enter the school year. I think it's been since co that that's happened. >> Uh that being said, I totally appreciate and want to honor the creativity and the partnership you guys did, which now means that there's going to need to be schedule calendar adjustments. and that is what it is and we'll move forward with that. I think for me uh I would want to minimize the impact to our families as much as possible. So the fact that I'm hearing that the October date is going to be a student day is really important for us to message out to the community like no matter what >> and that I don't believe there's any desire to touch the two weeks at

040Christmas and the week at February and of course then all just the other standard federal holidays. I think for me, I wouldn't want to see uh non- studentent or makeup days added after our general testing period. And that's consistent with what our board parameters have been for numerous years. So adding student time after uh state testing, AP and IB testing doesn't seem to make sense to me. And I'm less tied to what day of the week that the school year ends on. having lived through what we just lived through this past year where we were supposed to end on a Thursday or Wednesday or Thursday and we ended up ending the following Tuesday. It was supposed to be Wednesday but the waiver changed to Tuesday and there's lots of moving parts at the end of

041the year that ultimately families made their own choice for when their last student day was and I think they will continue to do that. So whether the school day school year ends on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I don't think that that really has the impact. um as more important as making sure that we have instructional days as many as possible before testing. >> Director Mullings. >> Yeah, I think that I agree with you. It's really important just to put out there that October, what is currently October 17th, very highly likely will be students in schools. I think it's also really important to acknowledge that over the last few years I think we felt more inflexibility in the schedule to deliver on the schedule of the year while while properly representing the wants of the community

042around breaks and holidays etc. So those things have pushed against each other, particularly the addition of Junth as a federal holiday in the end of June. And so what is really remarkable and to be commended about the work that we just went through and the contract and the waiver we discussed is really giving us back some flexibility in the year. Um and and while it may take us just a little bit longer, my hope is that when we get to that final schedule, it will be a really a net positive for for the community when they see how that gets played out in in the calendar. So, I'm I'm just incredibly excited about h getting some flexibility back in what we can do and to deal with our crazy weather and how weather is changing

043in a way that makes it ultimately less disruptive. It's just going to take us I think another step to get there. >> Yes. I think for me is um really what we have historically heard from our community. Um I think we have done surveys around things like the uh second winter break. Um we've had conversations around um the um week for Thanksgiving and any type of changes. And I think that um historically we've landed on a pretty crisp uh calendar that allows us again as director Gallinger was saying having a makeup day that March potential day off or potential makeup day um when it's really going to impact students that are doing some of that um either their um their their SBA day testing or their um state you know either state assessments or um

044the advanced assessments that we get learning time in that we can make up learning time um before those key those key um testing time periods. Um and then making use of the end of the year in a more robust way and so making sure there's not too many disruptions before the end of the school year. So, how can we um you know, the making up of of days? I appreciate that we're getting to the point where we can get to some of those waiverss so we're not okay. The history we almost had to go to the 3rd of July one year. It was really bad, but the state then came in with a fair number of waiverss for us. But, you know, we don't the sooner we can get especially Amy to stop school several

045days prior to Junth so that if we had incremental days, it doesn't have to cross over that um I think is really important. And so, um we hope to have a calendar and I apologize, we apologize to the public that yes, we're changing this year's calendar slightly. um it is what's going to be better for students and for staff and staff will get that really dedicated time um of professional development. Um so yeah, really excited about getting that piece done. Any other comments before we move on? Yes, superintendent. I want to I well, I always appreciate the calendar conversations because they're always lively. Um and I know our community is also always having lively conversations as well. um the impact will also be for the several years beyond this too. And so I know that

046as we continue to work through uh what the uh amazing work that has happened to um have a negotiated agreement ratified and approved now tonight uh that that work will follow not just for this year but also the next few years. So we do aim to have 3 years worth of calendars um in advance uh available to the public and so people can do multi-year planning uh especially if they have you know things that are important life events that require um coordination. So I do want to say there's also other steps that we need to take and that will follow but we want to get this year um very quickly um ready to go. So appreciate that. Um, and I wanted to say thank you to the bargaining teams. Um, and I appreciate especially the

047work between Donna and Donna to always lead the charge on the calendar and and and those involved with that. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> I know it's it's never an easy you think it's going to be easy. It's not easy work. So, we appreciate all of the effort that goes into that. Okay. Thank you. Our next item on our agenda is a levy kickoff presentation and a work study recap. So, we will um as staff comes forward, I'll turn it to you, superintendent, to kick off. Great. Thank you. Um we've spent the past uh this including this board meeting and the prior board meeting um with a work study to discuss an upcoming proposed levy for the board to consider to approve um after the work of a levy committee to refine certain

048um important questions and to gather that input for uh my recommendation to you all for an initiative to be put on the February ballot. And so I want to appreciate the team. Um in particular we have a team here that's uh included inclusive of Martin Turney, Mark Sherwood and Marcel Hower. And it's a combination of really tightening up not only our work in terms of um the finance and sort of stewardship of that but also the communications of that and and the project management of that. So we're we're doing in-house project management for this compared to some other efforts that have been done in the past. So with that, I'll turn it over to you. >> Thank you. I want to start with a little history. Um just kicking this off, letting people know typically

049there's a 4-year cycle for these. We had a little change around 2018 when um some funding uh that the state put in place changed a little bit. So had a little change in cycle. Um also like to remind people levies are 50% plus one uh to pass. And some recent history on the um tax rate. So generally a downward trajectory. Uh this goes back all the way to the beginning of the 2014 levy. So just wanted to show what that looks like um in the near past. And again, these are the things um that typically we run. Um a 4-year EPO levy. That's very important one I'll go over in just a second. Uh has all those um general fund operating items that uh make it uh aren't very important to how we run things

050from year to year. Um the capital levy includes technology and critical repairs. So getting devices and um things in in the hands of our students and also addressing those facility repair needs. And then of course um we often run a one-year transportation levies. So this can be used to replace uh aging buses and some charging infrastructure and potentially investing in some electric buses if that's what's uh the direction we go in as a district. also failed to mention February 10th, 2026 is the valid date. And of course, we're on the verge of beginning um the levy advisory committee process where we'll be gathering a lot of feedback from the community. So, to go over the what we call the educational programs and operations levy in our district, um this is a way for us to

051raise funds locally. Uh there are restrictions put on by the state. We are at a per pupil limit. Um it increases by CPI annually uh currently a little bit more out of the last legislative session but I won't go into those details. Uh it provides approximately uh just under 17% of the general fund. So pretty significant uh and important and again this is a renewal. So this is would be renewing the previous uh four-year levy if we decide to go forward in that duration and um authority. So again these are for enrichment items. It ties to our uh operational expectations. The EPO also touches on all of our strategic plan areas. So, a piece of this um is very important in each of these categories of the strategic plan. Moving into the capital levy. This

052is uh kind of a two-parter. We talk about it in terms of technology and also critical repairs. This is also renewal and um typically on that four-year cycle. Uh for technology, this what's helped us get those um pieces of technology in the hands of students, provide PD, have the staff available for instruction and um and taking care of those items. Um critical repairs is make sure we have our buildings in safe condition. We take care of those things before they begin to cause an issue for us and are unsafe for staff and students. Um the type of high impact uh projects that we could uh potentially do this round vestibules, roof repairs and replacements, HVAC and fire systems. um also ties to our operational expectations and every element of the uh strategic plan when it

053comes to technology because of course that technology is integrated in almost everything we do now for critical repairs primarily in three areas student well-being academic opportunities and organizational effectiveness uh the transportation levy relatively smaller in comparison to the others that's why we Typically when we run one, we do it one year only. We get the funds and we're able to utilize it over the next four years uh to to get the uh added fleet. Um what we can do potentially as a district is uh continue to invest in electric buses. We now have three as a district recently that we are beginning to test which is exciting. Uh we are also allowed to purchase charging uh infrastructure out of this fund. So those are the only two things we can do out of here. purchase

054buses and the charging infrastructure if we have electrics. Ties to our facilities and sustainability operational expectations and the two strategic plan areas. This is closely tied to student well-being and organizational effectiveness. We um also added to this slide deck for anyone's reference uh a kind of a cross crosswalk for the EPO levy from the strategic the primary strategic plan area uh to our results in OES. So I'm just going to scan through those real quickly. As I mentioned earlier, we are on the verge of bringing together a levy advisory committee and we've actually um received those applications, sent out notification to those who applied uh that will be on the committee. We have over 55 members meeting scheduled September and October and we'll go through each of these levies. We'll provide details and um get

055feedback from the group. make sure they have uh project lists and we have ways to poll and gather information and and actually leverage them to bring in information they're hearing from the community. Um this helps shape that final levy package um that we will then bring to the superintendent who will of course pass sort of recommendation on to you at quickly on the timeline. Obviously we're doing a lot here in uh August to get prepared. I had our work sessions, work study sessions, selected our members, and we actually sent out a a survey that was open throughout the summer for staff in terms of critical repair. So, we gathered a lot of information there that we're going to utilize um in that decision-making. The September and October time frame is when we're going to have

056most of those meetings. I should note uh on this slide, September 23rd, um very recently we needed to change it to the 24th. Unfortunately, we didn't notice there was a holiday on there. So, we need to switch that to the next day. So, we want to make sure we uh take that into consideration. So, we'll change that up. Um and also where it says tenative on the levy resolution approval, we are targeting the October 23rd date to h have that resolution available. Excuse me. So, that is no longer tenative. It is planned for the 23rd of October. November then uh kicks off community engagement. Uh we have to submit to OSPI, not OPSI. That's probably my mistake. Sorry. Uh so we need to get them to approve our enrichment items. Uh we'll be providing updates

057throughout um November and December. We also need to have those procon statements uh turned in as part of the requirement. Um ballot, sorry, ballots mailed out January. Um and then February, obviously uh the leadup to the election date. Quick recap. Um there these are renewal levies, EPO, capital projects, uh technology and critical repairs included and uh transportation. The first two being typically four-year duration, the last being a one-year if we do run those. Um and then the election date February 10th uh 50 plus one to pass. Hopefully I didn't go too fast through there, but uh a lot of information to get through, so I wanted to make sure we had time at the end. >> Thank you. Um really appreciate that. And for those that are, uh watching on the um on the Zoom,

058you are welcome to go or or even on YouTube, you're welcome to go to our website uh under the board uh agenda. you can click and look through this presentation um at a less rapid pace because what I truly appreciate is that everything is connected back to our um board policies and our strategic plan. So if we want to be successful with our strategic plan um this is why these this these levies are important to um to that success. So, wanted to open up any comments from the superintendent or to the board. Director Coin. >> Great. Thank you. And, uh, Martin, I appreciated the speed going through that. Thank you. It was very, it was quick but to the point. So, that was great. Um, just a few things, probably more observations. Um, one, thank

059you for highlighting um, the work that's taking place and putting together the levy advisory committee. I will say that the bond advisory committee was very influential in helping the board make decisions. So, um, appreciate that that's coming together. Um, and, uh, Director Moraldo mentioned this too, but I think the connection on the presentation on on page 12 and again for folks maybe that are going back and looking at this presentation, I think it's really helpful to see that connection back to um the district strategic uh, plan and also our our um, the board's policies as well. So, um, great that that connection was made. And then I just want to highlight, um, and director Mullings mentioned this, but on our the annual budget guide, which I brought tonight, uh, page 24, I think, and this

060is the very powerful information when we're looking at the impact specifically of the O EPNO levy. And that, you know, when we think about um, really, you know, when we think about our funding here in the district, that that makes up 16.6% 6% of that. So I think it's really important to really understand what that means um when we think about that portion of levy package. So I just wanted to highlight that but thank you again for the presentation. >> Any other comments? >> Director Gallinger. I would just say that the community and the levy committee needs to be prepared for a really robust list from the capital projects since that's what we heard a lot of feedback from community was they didn't disagree with the need they didn't they disagree with the vehicle and

061so uh while we said that the capital projects levy will be coming online and whatever it takes to make sure that we can do everything to the greatest extent possible to keep our kids safe and healthy and thriving uh physically, emotionally, uh academically. So, I know that there's going to be lots of robust conversations about that, but I look forward to seeing the investments that our community will have the opportunity to make uh for our students. So for me, we've had um a couple of work study um discussions around this and if board members want to relay back to um recapping tonight's uh discussion uh where we received a lot more detail around what those asks will be um I think it's been a robust dis discussion uh you know and I think we're trying

062to provide as much guidance as possible Because ultimately the timeline is once you're going to have the levy committee take a look at all of the proposals, they'll come back with their recommendation that goes to the superintendent who then provides her recommendation to the board and then the board takes action to put it on the ballot. So, um, we do kind of have to be in there so that people aren't surprised by what the board's answer is, uh, that we're in alignment. So, I hope that uh the past two work studies have provided staff plenty of information um about what our hopes are for um for those proposals that are going before the committee. And did anyone want to make any comments about tonight's work study? Director Mullings. >> Thanks. So, we've had two opportunities

063in work study to talk about the levy, which I think have been very helpful. I think my key takeaway or one of my key takeaways from the first conversation was really wanting to get down to a level of um uh more description around what are the goals of the levy, the components of the levy, what need is it fulfilling, um how does prioritization work, what are things that are ongoing or might be an augmentation of things that are in place and really put more pros, for lack of a better word, to that. I think one of the challenges from the last levy, frankly, was we were communicating in bullets in a way that didn't really um share or communicate what is it we're really trying to accomplish and for what reason. And I think that

064left a lot up to interpretation and misinterpretation um and miscommunication. So, I think we have a real opportunity, which I loved seeing the evolution of that in the second conversation earlier tonight of really a lot more words to communicate where are we trying to go? Why is it important? Um, what is the impact of each of these investments? And so, um, for me, I think it'll be important that we share this throughout the process and share it with community members. Obviously, they won't fit on simple flyers, but to have available, um, for those who really do want to dig in and understand the meat. So, I just think I I want to make sure we're not making the mistake of of um either maybe using too many buzzwords or communicating in small clips and so

065that people later are like, "Oh, well, I thought we were getting something and I thought we were getting something else." So I think that the evolution of the and these are all the papers in front of me. The evolution of the background, the why, the overviews, what's important, um I think those will be important as we share out with the committee and then with the community at at um at large. >> Thank you, Director Gallinger. And yet I hope that it's more than just about hey this is our new levy authority that the state has granted us through legislative action that we can really have time to pause and say what are the things that we need to stop doing and then what are the ways that we need to deepen our investments and I

066hope that there's more deep investments into dual language particularly Mandarin uh up in smamish which has been a community desire for quite some time and something this board and district has talked out and precoid that's where we were headed. Uh as well as early learning, you know, I think we finally have some breathing room in some of our elementary schools. I know not a lot, but that we could leverage partnerships and because we're not going to be able to serve every kid on our own that's age three, four, and five, but if we can, you know, really be intentional about partnerships and seeking that, I think that's a a opportunity for us to do more with limited tax dollars. So I I hope that that's part of the discussion. >> You know, I think for

067me, I do appreciate Director Mullings that you talk about some of the information that we were provided that had more in-depth more discussion. I think what we had heard from the community is you're not being transparent. And I don't I think that might be their way of saying I that they didn't get anything out of our bullet points, our you know quick and slick uh one-pagers. That's good for a lot of people need that amount of messaging and no more. But I think there's a segment of the community that says you're hiding something in that one page because there's no way you can summarize all of it. So I think it's having that balance. And so that's really appreciated that if you want more information, go here. And so I think um making that available

068uh taking that communication piece and and doing that project management within the district um I think is is a um is a way for us to really say we need to better connect with our constituents and um and that this is a way to do that. uh because I think it is it can be lost in a one-pager with some great info infographics. Now, that's how I like to see things. But, um, but for some people, they want to know what is the district really up to? And we, you know, I think that we as a board need to, you know, and we have really said, we heard when the community said, I don't believe you. And I will go to um what director Gallinger said. We told them we were going to provide them

069a Chinese dual language and we haven't done that yet. So what do we need to do to make that happen? How can we make sure that we are keeping the promises that we're making? Um I think the other thing from our discussion is as as much as possible, we don't want to see an increase to that tax rate that you showed. So we are trying to talk about all of this information, all the things that we want to do while keeping the tax rate uh steady. Now, if the committee comes back and there are some amazing things that we've decided is in the best interest of students and it costs a penny or two more, we'll take a look at that. But our desire and what I think the board has voiced is to as

070much as possible to any extent possible keeping that tax rate level for our community. We know that taxes um are rising. We know that the state legislature says, "Well, we'll help you with your education shortfall by allowing you to tax the taxpayer more." And the so the board's agreement is like, you know, no, that's not what we want to do. Um so although one of the discussions is we will be leaving levy authority on the table um that we're not going to be asking the public for. And um so I do want to make that that statement is was clearly he heard from all the board members to whatever extent possible not to raise the the tax rate. >> Uh thank you for recapping the you know uh discussion and the important values that are

071uh and programs and aspirations we have. I do think that this approach with this levy cycle of um start, stop, continue, which is actually what we have been working into our general annual expense management system um is important to apply to these other avenues. So there are things that we will need to renew because as as um director coin said, it's it's a almost 17% of our general fund revenue. Um but there are things that we can do differently. There's things that might have already sunseted and and we've had the desired effect and impact because it was an investment for capacity. And so what might we do differently with those funds that um that would have been going towards something that is no longer needed. So it is an opportunity for us to both um

072preserve the things that we must but also um think about things differently and I know that our team is really excited about that and we will see put some of those important key questions forward because there are some knowns and this is really important. I know that with every committee I'm on sometimes I'm like is it the boil the ocean or is it actually is it or is it a done deal and we are much more in between which is that there are things that we know we must do and must invest in and preserve while also um giving the very specific questions to the committee to really gather authentic feedback and to help guide. So we don't know what that will be but uh we have some guidance here from you all and we're

073looking forward to to doing that work with our committee. So the first thing I want to talk about during this works in progress moment is just upcoming events uh various de important dates and details for the general operations of our district but also any holidays or recogn recognitions or celebrations that are important to note for our community. And so the way that I'd like to handle that because there are many that happen during the month. And so instead of doing a one-off um that could then just become, you know, proforma or perform uh uh just a way to perform that uh this is a good way to highlight the upcoming, you know, next four to six weeks for the board and for our community and to to to say that we see these um important

074events, holidays, religious observation days. So um as you see you know Washana for example September 22nd here but that continues on. So that's why we're moving that date of September 23rd for the levy committee to September 24th. So um this is hopefully this gets posted on our agenda. It'll something I will just show and if there's anything specific that I want to highlight I I will. But it also gives the board an opportunity to get their eyes on that because we do have this posted but again it's what we highlight um that sometimes can help remind us of what is important. So, um, really great work to our team, our family partnership, uh, wellbeing, equity, belonging team, communications team for really always making sure that we are capturing all the important moments that our our,

075uh, very diverse community celebrates, honors, and recognizes. Um, so with that, you know, we're um, we're still in the phase of preparing for the school year. Um, something that I've had a great opportunity to do this, uh, past week was to last week was to visit with the Isiqua Kuanis. I believe that the actually the semantic quantities might be dissolved so they're absorbing some of those members as well. And so um I committed to it was such a robust conversation I committed to returning on September 17th um again and uh to engage in further topics of really important discussion. We spent some time talking about generative AI and really the changing landscape in education as a result of the changing workforce. uh specifically we had a question that I wanted to engage that group on

076around what are what are the durable skills that are important that are cross industry that are important for us to make stronger connection to and as we consider our work with secondary um this upcoming high school or just the work that we need to do as a system u we we're going to have to evolve and we're going to have to think about that lens and a tighter connection to our work in education to workforce and so our students have the opportunity to fulfill the vision and mission and the results of this board um that they are not only thriving but they also have really strong opportunities to be um mobile both in their careers but economically as well. Um so that's something that we're I'm going to return to talk about and as a

077as a note that's an even more an interesting group because there's there's three former board members uh in that group that that also have additional knowledge of the history of the district and and can weigh in in a in a unique way as a result of that. Um I've talked a lot about the career kickstart. We're going to talk about career connected learning. Um that pilot program did fish officially wrap up last week. It was very successful again funded by um the Isiqua Schools Foundation and really a corporate partner Sanmar Corporation. Um it was great and we're still gathering the feedback but it was a real strong effort. I want to acknowledge Jess Hall um as well as Joy Bamba for a lot of those efforts to make sure that that came to um fruition

078for this first time this year. And um more than 100 community volunteers helped out in some way, shape or form to help give our students exposure to um shadowing opportunities, industry tips, just career tips overall, and to be on site to see what it looks like to work in an environment that might be health sciences or business or otherwise um technology as well. So um that's great and we'll continue to share that feedback to inform future opportunities. Um, and I want to take a moment to uh also thank everyone who made our back to school resource fair last week such a success. I did attempt to do some family volunteering, but my um it was more supervision of the family uh than than actual full full family volunteering, but we tried our very best. Um,

079and there were so many volunteers. So, actually the the great thing that we saw was that so many volunteers were there to help out. Um we had over 430 families and over that served near nearly 900 students and um this is our second time and so there was the connecting those families with school supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, meals, physicals, other health services um as well. And we had several different teams between um our community um engagements teams, our food services, athletics, nursing, equity. I'm I'm naming these because I'm I'm looking them at directly. I don't want to miss anyone. equity and family partnerships, student information systems, communications and transportation. So basically almost our entire district was represented and um it was really great to also just see people you know having fun together and being

080in community together. So that was incredible. So thank you. Um this week and next week we have all staff across the district who are preparing to welcome students next week. And last year we had uh last week we had new hireer orientation and today was the first day back for teaching staff in the buildings and our food services team, transportation team, our for and after school care team and others have been convened to kick off as well. Um yesterday was specifically a incredible day for over 200 special services and general education staff who came together for the annual special services workshop. And the focus this year was really on leveraging data to drive instruction, access, and opportunity. And so this was a very collaborative professional opportunity um bringing together um teachers uh that have specialized

081um knowledge but also with our teachers that um are considered general general education teachers to partner on this day and to to really as we said earlier is consistent with um what was a great focus through the results of the collective bargaining agreement on on inclusion and inclusionary practices and serving all of our students well. And so that was an incredible effort. Um I want to thank the team for that. big big kudos and other than that we are just working on getting ready for school next week. So that's what's happening. >> Great. Thank you. Are there any questions for the superintendent? >> Director Coin, >> I did have one item that I highlighted here and appreciate superintendent you highlighting the upcoming dates and really that that information is out on our website. I think

082it's even to us as board members. I think you've heard the community's heard us sometimes being, you know, a bit surprised on some of the great information that's out on that website. And so, thank you for highlighting that because I think it's good for all of us. Oh, thank you for bringing it back up again, all of us to know that that's out there and to uh to check it out, especially with the new school year starting. So, thank you. >> And if you're online, you can scan that code and go directly to see the full religious and cultural can calendar. Great. Thank you. Uh, the next item on our agenda is legislative matters. Oh, capital projects. I should have seen you there. I'm already trying to rush through. No, take your time. Um, definitely

083interested in the work. Uh, again, this is projects funded by our taxpayers and so letting them know where we're at with the work that we've promised to get done is very important. So, thank you. >> Absolutely. Tom Mullins, director of capital projects. Good evening everyone. Give you an update on capital projects. Um uh status on the 2018 and 22 levies. Update on the larger we have a larger general fund project going. um give a little update on the current where we're at on some current grant projects and update on the new high school project 2018. All of the 2018 levy projects with the exception of Challenger and Newcastle Elementary School HVAC recommissionings will be substantially complete by the end of August this month here in a week or so. Um work continues on the 22

084levy projects as needed. Um larger general fund project Beaver Lake Middle School elevator modernization. Um although it's currently working, the elevator continues to be problematic and it's been determined it's old enough that uh needs to be modernized. um because a project because the elevator has to be shut down for 2 months during the 6 to 8 weeks during the process. We're going to have to do it over the summer, which is going to have to happen next summer. So, it's going to it's going to stretch out a little bit. Um grant opportunities, uh our OSPI per square foot grant to help pay for the IGAS. Um we got that we've applied for the reimburseable funds. They've been approved by approved by OSPI. Um, Department of Commerce Energy Efficiency Grant that we did over at Isakiqua

085High School. It's part of uh ticking a few boxes on the clean buildings performance standards. Um, it's retro commissioning along with some other things, some repairs. It's going to wrap up late this month and uh we've approved um the reimburseable funds there have been approved May major portion of the reimburseable funds have been approved by Department of Commerce. And then we've got the Department of Ecology EV bus and related infrastructure grant that we've been working on with operations Jason's team. Um the infrastructure the grant has been awarded. Um we're nearing completion. Um buses have been delivered to ISD. We have those in hand. And my last bullet point, the infrastructure is being installed. We're hoping to start charging EV buses in midepptember. We actually got an update. PSC got their work done, turned on the

086power. We're actually might be able to plug a bus in tomorrow morning, test that that infrastructure, and see how it works. Um, new high school update. The major amendment application process um was submitted to the city July 1st and that kicks off the major amendment process. There's a full schedule on the next slide we can go through if you need more detail. We continue um to communicate with city staff through the amendment process that it's a lot like a a miniaturaturized version of the land use pro process where you work with the city staff, answer all their questions. They create a a uh staff report that goes to the development commission. We're working with them on that. We're still targeting construction start date on March 1st of this next year and expected opening date of

087the school still remains August of 27. Any questions on the schedule? >> I do. >> Yes. So I just wanted to make sure I understood like in the example it's a line item that city review round one. >> Yep. >> Do I read the start and end date start and finish data as that's what you expect but the comment is it could last up to eight weeks. >> Yes. And that that is that is our expected amount of time. State law. No, but the state law requires are you talking city review round one? State law requires an 8week turnaround time. So these are the dates >> beyond 8 weeks. >> It shouldn't per state law. As long as our our submitt was deemed complete, which it was, they have up to eight weeks and we're

088hoping to turn that around quicker. >> Okay. So perfect. >> Yep. Any other questions on the schedule? If not, site plan, few colors to show the main elements of what we're doing there. Um, improvements on 228, all the other site improvements. about an 80,000 square foot portion of the school, reduced size parking garage, sports field, track, lights, um, and all of the other infrastructure that goes with the site. Next slide. First floor plan. Um, it's again a little hard to see. Um, but we've moved the entrance from this side. you know, the entrance was on the portion of the school that we're not building in this phase building in phase 1B. Moved it that over there. This that's the type of thing the the loading dock moved over here. The facade changes are one of

089the main keys that put us into a major amendment process. Well, this is mainly CTE floor, commons, kitchen, back of house, administration, entrance, and administration, and a couple general ed classrooms around the outside. Second floor, a lot of that space, as we remember, was two twostory clear space, so a lot of it doesn't have anything above it. We've got um general ed classrooms. The library is on the second floor and then we have um a CTE class in the green along with some other smaller breakout spaces. And third floor is generally um is gened and science classrooms are mainly up on this floor along with um teacher prep spaces and things like that. Any questions? >> Thank you very much. >> Oh, sorry about that. Building elevations. Forgot there was one more page there. Just

090some of the exterior elevations as we proposed to the city. So, >> okay, great. Thank you so much. So, are there any questions or comments from the board? >> Love that. >> General excitement. >> Yes. >> Here we go. >> Um I think it is. So, the only in this version of the school is it the only PE space outdoor? >> Yes, >> outdoor. Okay. Thanks, >> Director Coin. excited to hear how things go with the uh electric bus being plugged in for the first time tomorrow. >> Yeah. Yep. And um they're bringing the rep from the uh from the dealership there to make sure everything goes good. They've got some tests they'll run and everything and and then we'll be able to charge those buses up and I think they're going to actually possibly

091have one at the first um levy committee meeting. >> Oh, that's great. Offer >> rides. And I know this has been mentioned before, but it's it's going to start the route will be seamish, right? So we'll have um and it will be what at the elementary level middle >> we're going to we're going to let Jason with operations answer those questions with this to be honest more his more his bailey wick the whole project. >> Thanks Tom. Jason Morris, executive director of operations. I'd like to give a shout out to Tom and his team because this really has been um a multi-ep department process. um as far as getting the grant working on the buses, but then uh capital projects helping us get the installation complete. Um we have some steps, so we're super excited

092to get them rolling. We're we're excited to to get uh uh first charge. Um we do have some uh work that we need to to have done to the buses. We inspect them for safety, so that stuff has to happen. And we have to train our drivers. So, uh we do have a little bit of work to go. Uh we're hoping to be rolling them in fall. uh but they they won't be ready for day one of school because uh of the training situation. Um we're going to uh begin identifying routes um and just experimenting. I would expect to see um there's only three of them uh at this point, but I would expect to see them um at both elementary and secondary. Um many of our drivers roll in the same bus, secondary uh

093middle school, high school first and then go get an elementary route. So those routes are sometimes the same driver. So I expect to see them at all uh three levels when we um first start using them. >> Oh, that's great. Well, thank you for the detail and I think also the connection too to to OE 17 last year really the creation of that and we lived that with our students last year that really helped to bring that to fruition. So it's really great this tied directly to that >> too. I will include it on the monitoring report. >> Thanks. Thank you. >> You bet. >> Great. Any other questions or comments? anything, superintendent? >> I'm excited to continue to do the work to help get this next high school up and running. >> Thank you.

094Okay, now on our agenda is legislative matters. Now, um I'm assuming that AJ is not going to be sharing out uh exactly. Um I as far as I know um we will be probably looking at meetings with our legislators um at some point. Um but right now this is kind of a time where they're campaigning and um so I don't know that there's a whole lot of activity as far as this isn't we're not we're still in the summertime so bills aren't being dropped in the hopper. All of that will happen later on. So there's little there. And um federally, I think we're just looking at um budgets and what kind of approval um what changes are being made. And so there's just a world of uncertainty when it comes to uh federal legislative matters.

095So with that, I will move on uh to announcements and correspondence. So, are there any announcements that the board would like to share? Okay. Hearing none, we will move on. Correspondence can be seen uh on the website uh under uh it'll give a list of a correspondence that has been received. So, if the public is interested in seeing that, they may take a look. Next on the item, next item on the agenda is calendar and future agenda topics. So we do have a few things that um are in front of you. So uh one of the items is um scheduling town hall meetings by feeder pattern in October. So I'll take some direction if you have some. uh we would like to get um time and we can send out a calendarly but if there

096are any dates that are definitely not doable dates and we already know what our um board schedule is and we also know when some levy committee work will be um as hold. So sometimes it's helpful to start with getting a little bit of the the parameters from the board then we can move forward. But if there's an opportunity to do that now, then we can get some input from your calendars and then sometimes it does work out like sort of easily. But sometimes it just requires some work after this. And I do know that we don't have AJ here for that director. And we're looking for obviously an evening probably 7:00 p.m. Is that >> um I think you uh started town halls sometimes at 5:30 6 you would it be or would it be

097better to go later? >> I I think yeah I have no opinion on that one. Um maybe we do a variety of some earlier some later but we're looking at so we're looking for three dates right if we're doing by feeder pattern is that what you're >> I think that was uh the hope I think there's um uh as we come up on various things that are important for the school year I think by feeder pattern is a good way to organize it also brings natural ability to get to through different regions of the of the of the district that helps make it easier for families to connect so that was a a clean way to cover that for the board. >> Okay. So, if Emily is taking notes on this, on October 8th, October

09810th, and October 27th, I would not be available. I I'm gone the full week of October 20th, so I'll actually not be at the Well, I might be able to do the board meeting remote, but I won't be physically here. And I'm not available October 1st or 2nd. >> Correct. >> That might be a good date to target. That works for other people. Yeah, that works for me. >> So, one possible date of three is October 16th. I I I can't do the second. I can't do the first either. Sorry. Was it first and second are the two days I can't do? I'm gone the full I'm gone. >> I'm gone the full week. >> 20. Yes, >> I can do the 27th. >> Mhm. I could do that, too. >> I could potentially do

099the 27th. >> Uh the 28th is an ISF board meeting. Uh, as a note, I will also be um traveling for something the 27th, the 29th, but you don't necessarily always need me. I just wanted to So, if we did the 28th, we it could be a later one because then I just have to show up for the first portion of the ISF meeting and can So, if that that would be a good time for a central one. So, if we met somewhere here in the >> Mhm. >> in the valley, >> the 28th would work. I could make that work. >> I think I said 16. >> 16 cuz 17th's a Friday. So, 16th 20 and then 28th >> 16 >> and 27 28. Okay. 16 27 28. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, we'll do

100two back to back the 27 28. >> And are these at the three high schools or what was the >> Yeah, we can work on it. >> Yeah. >> Is there any chance the 30th works for you all? So, I could attend one of those during that week. And I I know it's hard, but I wanted to >> uh Harland and I have a WASDA board of directors meeting. >> Got it. >> Okay. >> Is there another day the week of the 13th? We have the 16th. Did that not Did some folks have a conflict that week? We want to do something earlier that week. So Oh, you can't. Okay. But you can do the 16. Okay. And what about the sixth? the week of the sixth. Did >> Mary do you did somebody have

101a conflict that week? You are okay. Okay. >> Okay. Well, the board has four of you that can make three dates, which is pretty incredible that that happened so quickly without a calendarly or doodle. And just know that the the week of the 27th, you uh will have some staff out that would typically attend potentially in support and also observation, but uh uh you won't have me, so you'd only have yourselves and we can figure out how to provide that additional support, >> right? Uh yeah, you can send somebody in yourstead. >> Okay. Um so so we'll cl Emily will clarify with AJ um his availability uh for most of those but with four of us being there I think that that's a good number um and then locations and so this will come back

102for action at our next board meeting um which before I get to the next item I do want to um say that um Director Coin will be unavailable at the next board meeting and I will be in Los Angeles. So though I can attend, I will not be able to run that meeting virtually very effectively. Um so I will be at the cube conference >> and hopefully somebody will send me a reminder like I hope you're coming to the meeting in five minutes. >> Is is that the 11th? >> It's the 11th. >> Yes. Um, okay. Yeah, I fly back the night of the 10th. I should I should be here travel allowing on the 11th and if you want me to run the meeting that should be fine. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, with

103that we can go on. The next item was um monthly PTSA and ISCL school foundation meetings just for your review. uh the PTSA council general membership meetings. Um I will be at attendance of at most of those as possible representing influence of choice, but there's plenty of room for another school board member um to uh attend those. So if there's somebody that wants to be the standing person or if you want to rotate, um please let Emily know. She'll let the PTSA council know um who at what date. But um for the most part I will be attending. >> I I can be your backup. Um but really more of a backup just given the time of day. But um yeah, I'd like to maybe try to target like hitting two of those this year

104if I can. >> Oh, okay. I wasn't sure if others wanted to try to do that too or not. I >> Okay. I'm gonna have to look at my calendar and get back on that. I'm I I'm going to need more time probably with those dates. >> Okay. Um so how about is um just because September is coming up quickly, if anyone can do the September 25th one and mark their calendars with that. >> I I know I can't do that one. >> You're going to be okay. So Harlon will take September 25th. and then I I can get back to you on the future dates. >> Okay. So, we can bring this up for discussion at the next um actually at the second meeting in September since Director Coin won't be at the next

105one. Yes, but this is in the morning. >> It's a daytime meeting. >> Yeah. PTSA um ISF board meeting. So I will be in attendance up until October 26th. December 9th is or I guess I guess I can still do December 9th. I'll still be president. So I will be doing that through December 9th and then Yep. And then Wazda General Assembly is happening on Saturday, September 20th virtually. Not my jam. Yes. Lots of booze. Well, as in boo, not lots of booze. Sorry. There's two uses of that. as in Buhiss to be clear. Um and so I believe that um there might need to be an announcement because I think as as WA was board members, Haron and I will both want to be in on the call and then AJ's our ledge rep.

106And actually, can we is this is this room available on that time and that day? if you would look because I think I would love for us to actually host uh regional who else from East County would like to come join us and we'll have our own but we it would be where we would need to have this bill and tech support because what we would do is we would literally run it as if so anyone of the districts who would come would come and be able to speak. So we we would broadcast from that diet that podium to give their input. >> Does that make sense? >> Uh so we will look into two things. one is um availability of the room on a Saturday which is uh sometimes likely uh and then and

107then the availability and the um allocation of using resources to support tech support on those off hours. Is that something I I sometimes get a head nod on that one? Okay. >> Yes. Um >> just to get us started then I could do it after >> Yeah. But still I want to make sure it's a >> Yeah. >> Um I think that would be vital. Um Harlon and I both serve on the WASDA board of directors and um we're very displeased at the fact that WADA wants to save $36,000 by not hosting it in person um in a hybrid manner. There is something to being together um when making decisions, when looking at policy um or positions about let you know legislative positions, our resolutions, which are our long-standing beliefs. Um and to not be

108together, I think we lose something. Um we lose a piece of being able to communicate, being able to share. Um and um so I think if we can host that and have um our fellow board members from our near nearby districts uh spend that time with us, I think that would be phenomenal. >> I think we could model a path forward for what hybrid can look like that would still bring people together locally. >> Okay. Are there any other items for the good of the order? Hearing none, we are adjourned.