001Okay, I'm going to call this meeting to order. Good evening. If you are so inclined, we're going to start with the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for On behalf of the board, I welcome all members of the audience to this evening's meeting. This meeting is a working session of the board to conduct the business of the district. This agenda for today's meeting has been published and the agenda items to be discussed and are voted on have been studied by the board members. I would like to introduce the people participating in this meeting. We have recording secretary Peggy King, Superintendent Justice Justin Irish, board members Elizabeth Sotech, Han Tran,
002Carson Sanderson, Kimberly Kelly, and I am Sandy Hayes and I currently serve as president of the board. An agenda for this meeting is available online at boardocs.com and copies are also located at the table at the back of the room. There will be an opportunity for both virtual and in-person public comments to be shared during the association and public comment portion of the meeting. Community members who are interested in viewing the meeting with close captions are encouraged to follow the link on our website to the district's YouTube channel. There's one phrase I never thought I would use in this lifetime. Anyway, we have a district YouTube channel. Go there for close captioning. The YouTube stream includes close captioning for both regular board meetings and study sessions. Visit nsd.org and under our district, click school board,
003then board meeting materials and videos. If you are here to address the board on agenda items, please sign in using the sign-in sheet on the table at the back of the room and take a number which corresponds with the line where you signed in. The first order of business this evening is the land acknowledgement and Director Sotech is going to read it. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> We take this time to acknowledge that the Northshore School District occupies the unceded Coast Salish lands that have been here since time immemorial. We honor the ways of knowing and the ways of being of indigenous peoples and tribal nations who are still here and thriving in our district community. We also acknowledge that this is a working land acknowledgement that will continue to evolve as our partnership
004with local indigenous peoples and tribal leaders expands. Thank you, Director Sotech. The next [snorts] item is the approval of the agenda. Does the board have any changes to the agenda as it has been published? Okay, seeing none, is there a motion to approve it? So moved. Second. All right, being moved and seconded, any further discussion? Then I will call for the vote. Okay, and the agenda has been approved. Up next is the Superintendent's report, Dr. Irish. Thank you, President Hayes. I'm super excited to share and President Hayes and Director Tran know that this weekend, uh Saturday, we participated in the first ever Washington teen teen-led mental health summit led by one of our students, a junior, Tanvi Kapur. It was amazing to be at this conference to see the amount of people who attended down
005in Renton. Support and the legislators as well as city council members and mayors and other community leaders who were there in support. It was absolutely incredible to know that one of our students is leading this Washington state-led conference. It was an incredible event and was It was an honor to be there. Also had the great opportunity alongside Director Sanderson and Director Tran to attend the Eastside Native American Education Program fundraiser on Saturday evening as well as Friday night, Director Tran and then later Director Sanderson came to the North Creek High School Intercultural Festival on Friday evening. And a shout-out to all the students who performed and led that event as well. Had a great opportunity to meet with our new city manager of Kenmore, Terry Kilgore, just to talk about our partnerships between Kenmore and
006the school district. It was a wonderful meeting. And then I attended the Northshore Middle School Career Day, the University of Washington. I'm a part of a Superintendent University of Washington budget resource group. Then we met for our spring convening down in Tukwila. Also met with our team to focus on our strategic plan and the refresh of that plan. Had an opportunity to meet with the Bothell Police Department to talk about our partnerships as well as our Northshore Education Northshore Education Association luncheon with Director Sanderson and and our union leaders. Met with my wonderful students on the Superintendent Student Advisory Board. They had an incredible conversation around what engagement looks like in the classroom. And gave us some great feedback on what those exemplars look like and what they hope to see in all of our
007classrooms. Attended the WAC 110 meeting as well with our regional leaders in the in the WAC 110 region. I've attended multiple sites for school visits at the Fernwood site. I did a Fernwood site visit, Shelton View School Action Plan visit, Sunrise site visit, Eastridge site visit, and Northshore Middle School site visit. And then tomorrow I look forward to being with all of you as we attend the Secondary Academy for Success School Board site visit. And that concludes my updates. Thank you, Dr. Irish. Any questions for him? Okay, I have a question. When you went to the Northshore Career Day, did you go to the dog trainer? I did not, but I went to the chocolate the chocolate connoisseur or chocolate maker. Yes, so that was incredible, but no, I did not go to that one.
008Okay. Mhm. Yeah. Missed out. That was my That was my kiddo. And let me tell you the pride when your child gets to be at a career day, meaning they have a career. >> [laughter] >> Anyway. That's awesome. No, I'm bummed I missed that. Okay, up next is Northshore spotlights. Once a month we set aside a moment time during our regular business meeting to do a shout-out for good things that are happening in our district. We don't always pay attention to those or put much focus. So this month we are giving a shout-out to our community partners that support our students in the adult in transition programs. They provide internships and work opportunities for them to develop skill sets for our 18- to 21-year-olds that are in that program. So we've got a lot of
009them. There are so many helpful partners in this work. The Grocery Outlet store in Kenmore, the City of Kenmore, the Inglemoor High School Viking Village, Woodmoor Elementary, Crown Bees, Cascadia College Library, Sorenson, the Northshore Senior Center, McMenamins, Westhill Elementary, the North Creek High School Custodial and Kitchen Department, Bothell High School Pantry, Campus Security and the NPAC, Snapdoodle, Alyssa Burnett, Frank Love Elementary, Brightwater Treatment Center, Accelerate Driving School, HopeLink, Threads and Treads, NSD Transportation, NSD Admin Center, and PopKins. So we are so grateful to all of these different programs and companies that provide real-life training and support for our students. We couldn't do this work without them. So thank you. Okay, and as always, I welcome input from my fellow board members for what we'll do next month. Up next is association and public comments. The
010Northshore School District Board of Directors has set aside a period of up to 60 minutes to receive updates and comments from district association leaders and community members. As referenced in multiple policies adopted by the board, we expect all parties addressing the board to present their comments in a way that is civil and respectful. This means that whether we are school directors, district staff, students, members of the community, or some other guest, we must all follow the same standard of civility during school board meetings. Please speak directly to the board and address matters related to district operations, policies, procedures, and agenda items under consideration by the board. Washington state law requires that the board limits its business and discussion at the board meeting to only those items that have been captured on the previously published agenda.
011What that means for us today is that any public comment regarding items that are included in the published agenda will be taken into consideration by the board when the topic is addressed during the agenda. Any topics brought up during public comment that are not included in the published agenda cannot by law be discussed at this meeting and so will not be addressed or receive a response during the meeting. So I just want because I know we've got some new people here so I just want to point out if you read through the agenda and the reason you're here to talk is not on the agenda, we cannot by law talk about it. So don't be offended. It's going to be a little weird and awkward, but we are not allowed to discuss it if it's
012not on it the agenda that we had to publish 24 hours ago. In either case, depending on the nature of your topic or questions, a district employee or a board member will follow up on any comments that relate to district business. Please note that the board silence during public comment is neutral. It is neither a signal of agreement or disagreement with the speaker's remarks. Also, please note that comments should not make reference to any employee or district representative by name or by identifiable reference. If you're interested in making comments or complaints regarding an individual, you may use the complaint process available through the office of the superintendent. Finally, please remember that your words have impact and you, not the school district, are responsible for your words. We caution all speakers that it is possible that
013your statements could violate the rights of others under various laws, including laws protecting privacy and laws prohibiting defamation. If you are unsure about the legal effect of your remarks, you should seek independent legal advice. In any case, we ask that you help us model for our students what a respectful and inclusive communities looks and sounds like. So first is our practice that we have associations and I definitely see two in the room. So Liz, you're here first. So we'll have our PTA representative come up. Thanks, Sandy. Hi, my name's Liz Wong. I'm the secretary for Northshore Council PTSA. And I am here to tell you a little bit about what's going on with us. We just actually voted in our board for the next year. I want to tell you who's going to be doing
014everything for next year. So we have our president will be Diana Christensen. Our first vice president is Holly Munchow. I'll be coming back as secretary, Liz Wong. Treasurer will be Abby Polasco. VP of advocacy is Stephanie Sullivan and Berne Brix. VP of events, Grace Horado. VP VP of communication is Rebecca Shepherd. VP of elementary support will be Mono Mercutla and Cheryl Stanford. And VP of secondary support will be Christine Ronald. Um our EAP meeting, which is normally the first Thursday of the month, I think, is supposed to be on April Fool's Day. We're not going to have it apparently. It's a trick. So we'll resume on May 6th. Um Uh So we will not be having it that day. Um and then our convention, so we can do work on behalf of students, our convention
015is on May 15th through 17th. I want to let everybody know that we actually just opened up registration for it so we can get the work going. We'll have our general sessions. We'll have networking. We'll have training so we can do better for everybody. So short sweet. Thank you. Thank you, Liz. Next is Colleen from Cascadia Community College. Colleen Panto, board trustee, Cascadia College. The Cascadia Northshore Social Justice Conference is Friday coming up, May 27th. We are excited to have the high school students back to campus for the fourth year in a row to experience workshops and college life. The legislature is finished. Cascadia is fiscally stable, but the system as a whole is being forced to make a tremendous amount of reductions. These are the president's words, we are hanging in there. Our latest
016building, the Gateway building to house all student services, has been funded. Yay for us. We will break ground in December. Enrollments for spring are up 13%. And thanks to you board members who supported us as our at our pay it forward event, we raised over $100,000 for our students. Thank you. Thank you, Colleen. Are there any other associations? Hello. And thank you for allowing me the time to address you today. My name is Ashley Watson. I'm the parents the president of the HiCap Parents Council. I wanted to address some additional concerns surrounding the integration of middle school HiCap science and social studies and to update you on some more some more information that we have now. When we remove district-wide supports for highly capable students, we unfortunately start to see inconsistencies from building to building.
017Specific school examples aren't appropriate for this setting, but we see a worrying pattern as we consider moving integration up to middle schools. We've seen students get shoehorned into whatever resources are available without due consideration for the integrity of the HiCap services they need. I've all I have tried to listen to all perspectives on this new model for well over a year and I still have some specific questions that I don't have answers to. How will HiCap students receive accelerated instruction, not just more challenging assignments? HiCap students should not be used as little teachers. How will integration raise the scores of struggling students? One concern that came up over and over again in a recent survey was in the comments of a recent survey was the uneven distribution of group work. If integrated groups are to
018be heavily used in this model, how will teachers ensure that HiCap kids aren't unfairly relied upon in group projects? What evidence do we have that this model will meet HiCap students' needs for accelerated curriculum and enhanced instruction? Now for some more data for you. I mentioned at the last meeting that parent satisfaction in their child's highly capable services has gone down for ELA since NSD moved to its integrated model in elementary schools. Today I want to highlight an additional data point. You may remember that during the years that NSD used the EAP model, students who qualified for HiCap in only reading or math remained in their general ed classes at their home elementary. These families were told that teachers would differentiate to meet these students' needs in a gen ed setting. This made these services
019dependent on the particular teacher and classroom that a child ended up with. Unfortunately, without the structural support of an EAP classroom, parent satisfaction in these services tended to be lower. For the 2023 to 2024 school year, among parents whose student was qualified for HiCap reading only and were therefore in a gen ed classroom with only teacher differentiation to meet their HiCap service needs, only 24% were satisfied in their child's teacher ability child's teachers' ability to differentiate for their students' individual strengths and challenges. As a reminder, that number was 23% for the integrated model students in that year, whereas it was 53% for the EAP students that year. When asked if they were satisfied with the highly capable services their student received in ELA, these parents of single qualified HiCap reading students had only a 32%
020satisfaction rate. When we take integration into middle schools, we are doubling down on integration without a solid plan for how to deliver highly capable services in this model or data that tells us that this model works for highly capable kids. Finally, I want to share some results from a new survey the council has conducted. We asked middle school families to answer some specific questions about their students' experience, then sorted answers by separating the school that was piloting integration out from the other five full-service middle schools. In this pilot integration model, 47% were satisfied or highly satisfied with their students' science HiCap education. In the AAP program, 80% said the same. For social studies, the percents are 40% 47% satisfied in integrated and 76% satisfied in EAP excuse me, AAP. We also asked whether HiCap families
021of students of all ages were in favor of moving to an integrated model or keeping self-contained classrooms. Out of 124 respondents, 78.9% were in favor of keeping self-contained, 16.4% were in favor of moving to integrated, and 4.9% were not sure. Additionally, the council took a vote on the same question and 13 out of 13 responding representatives voted in favor of keeping self-contained classrooms. As the president of the organization meant to represent the interests of the children in this category, as well as their families, I want you to know that if NSD moves forward with this program change, it will be over the strong objections of families in the community and the program that it was meant to serve. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Okay, I don't see any other associations. No students tonight.
022Okay. All right. So we do have a practice that students can speak first, but we have no students speaking tonight. So we're going to start with number one. Toyed with messing that for a minute, but I decided just go in numerical order. Okay. So just a reminder for everyone. I know, but not everybody was here last So there's going to be a timer that's going to show up. You have 3 minutes to speak. It will be green until there's 30 seconds left. It will go yellow and then it will go red when the 3 minutes is up and then the timer disappears. And there's no sound. So if you're not watching the screen, there's no way to know. So if you look up and there's no timer there, it means your time is up. So
023if you can wrap up at that point, that would be very helpful. Thank you. Go ahead, Jeremy. Thanks. Oh, see, she knows my name. My name is Jeremy Woo and oh, it's on the list. That's why. I'm a parent in the HiCap I'm a parent of a HiCap student. Um I thank you for the time to address the board members and you, Dr. Stewart Superintendent Irish. Uh I just want to give you some background um before your time has started here. 3 years ago, our uh elementary school age kids, my daughter was in second grade at the time, um was moved into an integrated HiCap classroom. And at the time, there wasn't a lot of information about what was happening, um but there was a a request to trust in the process and that they
024would still receive differentiated services. I can tell you for the last 3 years, she has not received any differentiated reading or writing ELA services in her integrated classroom, and I guarantee we're not the only ones as per the survey. Now, we are being told that there's a change in the middle school with social studies HiCap and science HiCap being integrated. And we just met with the middle school teachers and the middle school principal and asked, "What is the plan for differentiating services so that our HiCap students can be given their basic education needs of accelerated learning and and enhanced instruction?" And again, our actual middle school instruct teachers, they they don't have a plan yet. They're trying to work it out now. Um I guess our question my question that I would like you to
025consider is that this plan was put into motion, I believe, before you started as a superintendent. I would I would ask you all to consider pausing and and and and proceeding once there is a a solid plan and when this change has been able to be communicated to the the parents. A lot of parents care about this change as as evidenced by the people who are going to be speaking after me. Um every one parent that's here, I guarantee represents dozens of other parents who we've talked to who couldn't be here tonight. I think you will see them at later board meetings. The question is, why the rush? Is there something that we don't know that is pushing a deadline that is causing this change to happen now? Or is there a possibility of pausing
026and reconsidering, making sure the communication goes out, make sure making sure all schools are aligned on the same plan that this can be implemented effectively so that we don't have a repeat of what happened at the elementary school there. I'm not saying don't make the change. I'm saying almost everybody in this room who's been notified wasn't notified by a communication by the district. The high the middle school principal said that it was not his play their place to communicate out because it was a district change. We all found out about this through random text messages from parent to parent. That shouldn't be how a change like this is communicated to the parent community. And on top of that, we believe that we should be given some information about how this plan will be executed to
027assure us that our students like I have special ed students, too. I on IEP, I want them to have the right level instruction. I want my HiCap students to have the right level of instruction. So, thank you for your time. Thank you, Jeremy. >> [applause] >> Next up is number two. Hi. Um my name is Monisha Sharma. So, thank you for um having me address you today. I'm the parent of a HiCap second grader at HiC um at Arrowhead Elementary. My family moved to the Northshore School District in part for its reputation for HiCap services. So, as you know, the elementary school services have moved from self-contained classrooms to a cluster model similar to what is being proposed to the middle school. So, our family's experience with the clustering, which is echoed by many other
028parents, is that differentiated services are often inconsistent and dependent on teacher bandwidth. One of the most important benefits of keeping HiCap children together is to support both learning and social development. So, when children have an opportunity to learn alongside their peers, they feel challenged, motivated, and most importantly socially accepted. Despite the official policy of clustering, my son is the only HiCap math student in his class. The other students are are scattered across different homerooms. As a result, he reports feeling socially isolated and different from his peers. He said he wished he could be with the other HiCap math students. When I emailed the principal to ask if he could be clustered next year, she responded that HiCap students often don't know who else in their class is receiving HiCap services. Um so, I have this
029in an email. And so, if if students are not aware of the other students in their their class that are receiving HiCap services, they're not being meaningfully grouped together, which defeats the point of clustering. So, I have two kids, and my younger one is not HiCap. But I often worry about my older son more. My younger son makes friends easily, he regulates his emotions, and he adapts to new situations. My older son struggles with these things. So, we're not saying that HiCap kids are better, but rather that they're different, and they need different services to be successful. My son tells me that he doesn't have close friends at school and sometimes doesn't want to go. So, we should be meeting these students where they are, just as we do for students with of other needs.
030So, equity means making sure every student is in an environment where they can learn and feel like they belong. If the integrated model isn't working at the elementary school level, it's unlikely to work at the middle school level where the coursework is more demanding and the pressure to fit in with your peers intensifies greatly. So, I urge you to preserve the self-contained model and choose a model that aligns with the stated principles um um of your policies and to ensure that students like me my son can thrive in the Northshore School District. Thanks. Thank you, Monisha. >> [applause] >> Next is number three. Um hello, everyone. Thanks for having all of us this point. My name is Polina Akimova. I have a fifth grader in a Frank Love Elementary moving to a KMS um for
031the middle school. So, and I'm here to speak about the same issue as um other parents. But my question is specifically to the board and Dr. Irish is, "What problem are we trying to solve with this?" Because you heard a lot of the parents saying why it's not working for their kids. "What problem are we trying to solve um with this?" And because as a parent we were not aware of one that there was a problem to solve, right? I mean, we were talking about the inconsistencies in education and inconsistencies of delivering this enhanced and accelerated instructions across the district, but not that there was an issue with combining the classrooms. So, I would like to point out that we did not get any communication as other parents mentioned. So, I'm hoping that we'd get
032this answer from you, and I understand you cannot answer right now, right, to this question. But I would like to get that answer, and I would like this answer to be very specific that backed by research, scientific data, dollar amount if that was applicable, right, of why we're making the change. I also do not expect to see things like opinion, feedback, you know, too many, too little, because when our kids get in the program, they have to get a very specific score at the very specific test and not based on somebody's feedback or opinion, right? And we as a parent we were not given a chance to give a feedback or opinion on this before it came into effect. So, um I hope that the answer should not be troublesome or time-consuming since the decision
033already been made, so I assume you have all the data right now to give to us. So, we at least can see why the change is making, you know, and what are the consequences for us, and then how combining will, you know, fix this problem that we're trying to solve that we don't know about that we're trying to solve. Um I also would like to reiterate what other parents said, there was no clear communication. We didn't know about it. We heard about it through rumors as a parent of these kids. Nobody ever asked for our opinion. Nobody asked for our kids' opinion. Um so, it would be very helpful if we can get at least some clarification before we can even start making any solutions to the problems that we don't know about. So, thank
034you so much. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Number number four. Hi, good evening. My name's Leanna Stein. I have a PhD in molecular cell biology. I have three dual qualified elementary school students in the district, um one of which is an incoming sixth grader. I also serve on the HiCap Parents Council. I'm here to advocate for reinstating the self-contained highly capable science and social studies services in middle school and urge you to not eliminate them in ELA, which the rumor mill says is on the chopping block. In my NSD experience, integrated HiCap services in elementary school has too often meant no meaningful service at all. Amidst large class sizes, teachers struggle to differentiate for HiCap learners, as observations strongly supported by the HiCap Parent Council surveys. >> [clears throat] >> Even the best teachers cannot
035effectively meet a wide range of needs simultaneously. As a result, bright talented kids lose their love of learning, resent school, and underperform. As a scientist, I strongly believe that policy decisions must be data-driven. I'm deeply concerned that the the district has finalized the decision to eliminate self-contained HiCap services in middle school without publishing analysis to support that change. Tonight, I'm formally requesting, please share your peer-reviewed analysis comparing the academic growth and long-term outcomes of highly capable learners taught in integrated versus self-contained models, especially pairwise analyses for the students who received instruction under both models, or release the data so that independent experts can evaluate it. If your data supports integrated services, why hasn't it been shared? The absence of transparency suggests either the analysis has not been done or the results do not support the
036decision. This decision has broad consequences. Neighboring top-performing districts such as Bellevue, Mercer Island, Lake Washington continued offer self-contained highly capable programs. Removing ours will push families to leave or not move here, weakening our community. Equally concerning is the rollout. In January, the sixth grade course registration materials I received specified self-containing high cap services. To date, our zoned NSD middle school has not communicated that these services have been cut. The high cap parents council was asked to remain quiet with no meaningful opportunity for input. This was not transparent or collaborative. Moreover, no details regarding implementation have been provided. How will high cap learners receive accelerated curriculum in a way that doesn't make them targets in front of their peers? How will group projects work? I could go on. As a middle schooler myself, I had access
037to both standard and high caps courses. In less challenging environments, I felt the pressure to hide my abilities. I was uncomfortable asking questions, and I dealt with group projects by taking one for the team, meaning I did it myself. Um in more rigorous self-selected settings, I found psychological safety, intellectual peers, and the freedom to learn. That matters especially in middle school, where social dynamics tend to discourage curiosity and learning. I encourage you to consider your legacy. What will the district look like in 5 10 years if we stop meaningfully servicing highly capable students? Will we see fewer students pursuing advanced education, entering careers, reaching their potential? Self-contained highly capable services enable schools to meet the needs of all learners. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> No. Number five. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening.
038Um thank you for everything you do every day for our kids and our district and our community. So, um uh my name's Piper Klaiborne, and I'm with Northshore Visual Arts this evening. I also have a fourth grader at Canyon Creek Elementary, and I'm an art docent there, and I use expressive arts with mental health therapy for 25 years now in our community. Um so, I am just here to say happy 65th year to Youth Art Month and talk about the visual arts. Um so, outside in the lobby, it showcases exactly what visual arts uh brings to life. Uh what they did out there is a collaboration between um Northshore teachers and visual arts partners, and it is to uplift youth visual arts for art month this month. And we invite everyone here to celebrate us
039uh with a reception on March 30th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. And this year it's going to be extra special because Woodinville High School for the first time in their school arts club will lead a fun interactive arts activity during that reception. And um we're proud very much that Bothell, Kenmore, and Woodinville this year their mayors have all proclaimed support for Youth Art Month and visual arts education. And also Governor Bob Ferguson um uh signed the proclamation and highlighting how visual arts fosters imagination, collaboration, and vital skills. I'm going to read three lines um from the proclamation. Whereas experience in the visual arts cultivates valuable skills such as imagination, creative expression, effective collaboration, innovation, resourcefulness, and adaptability. And whereas visual arts education develops student creative potential and improves problem-solving and critical thinking skills by reinforcing
040and bringing to life what students lean in other subjects. Sorry, learn in other subjects. And whereas multiple national leaders have acknowledged the necessity of including visual art experiences in all students' education. Yet we must remember that visual arts sometimes gets pushed to the background and and has for a while in this district. Um and all arts are important. Let's ensure visual arts are valued just as much as all the other art forms. It's crucial that we expand support especially in our elementary schools. Um it builds essential skills and sparks creativity, and it's what we need for our future um and innovation. So, let's keep championing visual arts, and thank you so much. Thank you, Piper. Number six. Good evening. Should I push this button? It should be already on. >> Okay, great. Hi, I'm Laura
041Newman. I um am a parent to two uh elementary school-age kids that both qualify in high cap. I appreciate your willingness to hear us out um today. So, our experience is that we uh 3 years ago uh my oldest son was in a different school district, and he was in um an integrated classroom um where we were told that the teachers would be able to differentiate his learning. And um what we received is essentially no services at all. Of course, this is another school district, but what his reaction was um is that he just checked out of school and read the entire time. I agree with the statement before that there's like no matter how good a teacher is, it is very difficult to be able to differentiate when there's a wide range of abilities.
042So, when um he was really not doing well in school very early on, we did move to this school district because I uh it has an excellent reputation for academics. Um and I even printed out a map and circled the like neighborhoods and streets uh that would get us into an elementary school that had this EEP cohort model. Um I'm very happy to say that he my oldest son is doing very well in the um cohort model, and um he's found uh similar peers. He is more engaged in school, and I'm thrilled with the education. The teachers are amazing. So, he's going into sixth grade next year, and we just had our middle school like parent orientation um where the teachers came to talk to the high cap parents in a special session. And when
043we asked about what integrated middle school would look like for some of the classes, one of the teachers said it the your students will thrive because of the magic of differentiation. And when asked what that meant, we he couldn't give one example like a practical example of what it looked like. So, I'm particularly concerned that the teachers are really not prepared. I am not disparaging the teachers. You know as well as I do that they're incredible, and we've had great experiences with them. But I also implore you to reconsider this integrated policy before everyone is prepared, and um considering some of the needs of the high cap kids, not just their academic, but like others have said um some of the social ones as well. Um I [clears throat] think that's it. Thank you very
044much. Thank you, Laura. Number seven. I feel really nervous walking up, so I'm just going to own that. And I also just want to say thank you to the board. Your volunteering really matters, and I know that you care about the kids in the district. My name is Elizabeth Paruchuru. I'm a mental health care practitioner, a nonprofit operations officer, and a mom to a fourth and fifth grade student. Several years ago, my children, thanks to universal screening, were identified as highly capable here at NSD. My husband and I, not being from Washington state, were not accustomed to the education system here. We attended an info session hosted by the district. We learned about what the program was, and we, along with the rest of the audience, were encouraged to accept this placement for our children.
045We were told that they would be challenged and receive the depth of education they required. We were told without it, we may hamper their growth and create side effects that would follow them in the future. This was a compelling perspective for someone focused on mental health like me. I dove into learning more about emerging research in gifted education. I knew that this was what my children needed. I learned about how things I had previously seen as quirks in my kids were common features of high cap kids. Several months later, our school community, that's Sunrise, learned that half of the sixth second grade high cap students would be returning to their previous schools for integrated classrooms. We were told that they would receive the same services, and that they would continue to have a year of
046growth for a year of learning. We were told that those students would be equally prepared for their AAP middle school classes as their peers who remained in in self-contained Sunrise classrooms. I was confused given what I learned at that info session. I was confused about the hasty rollout. Families were left feeling abandoned and blindsided by the district. I joined the high cap council and represented my school from 2023 to 2025. During my time on council, I heard from many parents whose children were not served in integrated classrooms. I also spoke to teachers who shared about the difficulty of differentiating needs for so many student levels. I never was privy to any compelling data about the comparison between students in the two cohorts, self-contained and integrated. At our October 2024 meeting, an administrator visited the council
047to share data. He shared limited i-Ready data that did not represent a meaningful comparison between the cohorts. When we asked for more information, we were told he didn't want to present it because sometimes people see differences in the data that are insignificant. When we pressed again, he expressed this was not a big deal. He said, "Who remembers third grade anyway?" Now, this very cohort is about to enter middle school. A parent pointed out the NSD website was updated to say that AAP science and social studies is no more. After some talk on social media, Timbercrest, my children's future school, included a a blurb on page eight of 11 about how these courses are no longer available as we are quote building on proven success. I want to note that I went to the orientation last
048week. This topic was not discussed once. There was a student who remarked on her wonderful AAP classes. Would have been a great time to tell all of the parents that that was no longer continuing. My request, like many others tonight, is to see this data to understand the proven success. I would also like to understand the philosophical shift that the NSD administration has taken and the contemporary research that informs it. It has been a radical shift. It feels like whiplash. I thank you for universal screening. That sets our district apart. I hope we can serve the kids we all identify. Thank you. Thank you, Lisbeth. >> [applause] >> Number eight. Hi. Um my name is Sang You. I'm from Redmond. Uh I have two kids in high high cap program. And thank you for the
049opportunity to speak here. Uh I'm also here to comment on the continued cutting of the specialized high cap classes, the latest being the middle school programs. There has been uh increasing sentiment in my parent group, very especially the second and the third grade parents feel uh their kids, especially their English classes, are not as challenging compared to their other siblings in specialized EAP classes. And this sentiment has not inspired more volunteering to fill the gap that they feel, but has inspired a lot of talk of taking kids out into private schools, uh especially from parents who are very involved with the school, not just for high cap programs, but for all school events for all the students. So, uh I am worried that this continued cutting is driving more passionate parents away from our public
050school system. And I would love to see more transparent communication from the district about the decisions that has been made to cut the specialized uh classes for high cap. And even if it's not data driven, and even if it's uh we suspect it might be because teachers need more support, at least the communication I hope would inspire more parents to help out the district instead of withdrawing because they feel uh the district does not care about them as much as uh they care about the schools. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> So, that concludes public comment. We are going to return to our business portion of the meeting. Um it is some riveting conversations around project design build and general contracting, but we will not be offended if you choose to leave at
051this point. >> [laughter] >> Let's see who who the geeks are. Education geek. Edugeeks, as we like to call us. Okay. Um up next is the adoption of the consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Okay, being moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> [sighs] >> Who who moved? I Director I seconded. >> And Director Sotelo seconded. Okay. I know we sound the same sometimes. Um great I saw the field trips were listed on there. Looks like some very exciting ones. There might be some um Northshore spotlights coming out of those field trips, huh? Yeah, it's a it's a rich, diverse opportunities for our students. Okay, seeing no further discussion, I'm going to call for the vote. Okay, the consent agenda passes. Up next is our action items, and the
052first is our board meeting schedule. Don't get too excited. These are just the business meetings. More to come, but those don't have to be voted on. Um so, we uh saw this as an information item last time. They have been um looked at by our REJ department to make sure that there's no conflicts with major holidays. Um so, uh is there a motion to approve? So moved. Seconded. Thank you, Director Sotelo and Director Kelly. Um any discussion on the board meeting schedule? Okay. Then I will call for the vote. I didn't feel like you really needed to say anything. Save a moment. >> [laughter] >> Okay, and our board meeting schedule passes. So, we'll get our calendars all filled out for next year cuz we're all going to be here next year. Woohoo! All right.
053Um next up is the approval to use the progressive design build project delivery method for Shelton View and Kokanee Elementary School projects. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Seconded. Okay. And now I'm going to have Dr. Irish explain what a project design or progressive design build project delivery method is. Yes. So, essentially it's a um So, typically what happens is the general project delivery method is selected and approved by the school board. Uh and in this case, it's been approved by um in the past for future or for past projects. Um so, a replacement um so, you're going to be looking at information number two coming up where for example, the build project was you guys approved the Inglemoor High School in the Leota phase one previously. Um so, that replacement project will
054um the it just means that they can continue with phase two. And the agency certification allows us to make the selection without additional PRC approval. Um And so, the key reasons to use this method is essentially includes complex scheduling, phasing and coordination, constructability review, integrated design phase cost estimation and validation, construction and occupied site, complex technical work, and so forth. So, it's essentially a method that was already thought about, designed, and moved forward so we can continue to duplicate that process for other projects. Anything you want to add, President Hayes? Well, perhaps you were we could phone a friend. Explain how this looks different from a traditional model. I will phone a friend. Cuz I'm going to mess it up, and then Dree's going to tell me tomorrow. >> [laughter] >> Why this is a
055preferred method for the remodel at Shelton View and Kokanee. >> method? I see what you're saying. I'm very happy that you called me up because um we skipped ahead to GCCM, and we're talking about progressive design build. Yes. Uh the the what we're approved to do in general is a design bid build. That's the lowest low bid. Uh that does not work for us for a number of reasons, similar to the ones that Dr. Irish just outlined. Uh so, we used alternative delivery methods. This one is called progressive design build, which means we hire the contractor as our prime contract, and they team up with an architect. And we hire them at the same time. This enables us to do complete a project in the four years that we have uh as a bond cycle
056instead of having to go out to bid at all the different stages. So, that's the primary uh reason for progressive design-build for these two projects. What you'll hear next is GCCM. This is where we hire architect first and then we hire a contractor next, although earlier in the process than we would if we went out for low bid. And that's for the reasons that Dr. Irish just listed, but it's not as fast as progressive design-build, which we're doing for Shelton View and Cockney, but it does allow us for really complex sites and gets that constructability and the budgeting and the timeline cuz we have to start school at right on time for both of these projects, but that's why we use a lot of alternative delivery methods. Okay. >> Thank you, Dre. That is much
057better than what I could have explained and why we have experts in the house. Is that Is that Is that an industry-standard term? Yes. >> Okay, thank you. It is. Okay, so just so I can distill it in my brain. So, for Shelton View and Cockney, the traditional model is you go out and you bid on You get an architect. >> an architect and then you go out and build for your bid for And then you get a contractor. >> And you design it and then you go out and do a bid for a contractor and then you got to go out for all the sub-bidding. >> Yes. >> Right? Okay, and so for this, what we're doing is we're doing a contractor and architect at the same time. >> Yes. So, they can work
058together cuz yeah, we all know how fun that can be when the architects I have a great idea and then the contractor comes in and goes, "Nope, that's not happening." >> Yeah. So, they'll come in and and do it together and part of it is timing, but it also does keep our costs more under control. >> Absolutely. They can do kind of continuous cost estimating and costing out things as well as that constructability, which is what you're talking about with the no, that won't work. Okay. Great, thank you. Other questions that board members have on use And so, all we're doing is approving the use of the process. Um the the idea around this is to make things more efficient and move along more smoothly theoretically. Yes? >> It gives us so much more um
059input and control of the process. >> Okay. Um Yes, I mean that really is And if we get things started sooner, then construction costs have less time to inflate. That's [laughter] true. It does help with escalation. >> Okay. That was my next question, so perfect. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Dre. >> Thank you, Dre. I suspect you may be back for the next one. >> Yes. Um okay, a- any other questions, comments on this? All we're doing is approving the process. Okay. Um so, seeing no further discussion, I'm going to call for the vote. Okay, and that passes. All right, up next. Um so, if you thought that was confusing, let >> [laughter] >> let me introduce the next one. Um and I'm going to stay in control of this cuz this really has nothing
060to do with the district, so they don't want any part of it. So, um a couple things. One, I need to apologize because I did not fully read this and understand actually what it was asking and when I explained it, turns out I explained it totally wrong last time. So, um two two things uh to start with. One, this is not coming from WASDA, this is coming from the Auburn School District. So, WASDA is not requesting this change to the bylaws. It is a school district that is trying to get other school districts to sign in to request this change. In the past, prior to 2023, there was a waiting weighted voted option for districts as a second round of voting. So, initially you would vote on an item at General Assembly. It was one
061vote per district. And then if things were tight or large districts felt like this was an issue that was really important to them and the vote didn't go the way they wanted, then they would call for what was called a weighted vote. And it was really extreme in its waiting. Um that is not at all what's happening in this proposal. What this proposal is changing is the number of voting members at General Assembly. So, it would change for large districts that we would have three school board members going to General Assembly to vote if this were to pass. Um two for medium-size districts, one for and then one board member for small districts. So, it's a completely different thing than what I thought I was talking about last time. So, I am I am going
062to start I want everybody to weigh in and ask questions, but I'm going to let you know I'm voting no because this is a logistical nightmare. The way the General Assembly works is they vote on bylaws first. If they pass a bylaw proposal, it goes into effect immediately. So, typically our legislative rep is our voting member at General Assembly. Han would then have to call two other people and say you need to get here now. It's a be virtual, but you need to get online now cuz you have to be here to vote because it would go into effect for this General Assembly. So, that's logistical nightmare number one of this. Number two is I don't think the person that proposed this did the math. The the way they have differentiated large, small, and medium-size
063districts, if every large district voted for something with three, there's only 20 large districts in the way they have delineated large. So, they would only get 60 votes. The medium-size, the numbers that way works out to with two votes for medium-size, they would end up if everybody showed up with 75, 76. And if every small district showed up again with the way that they've delineated cuz it's not actually matching with the way it's actually done, it's 250 votes. So, it doesn't solve the problem of representation, which is the intent of this. I am completely sympathetic that yes, that our vote is the same for a district that has 100 or 200 students and there are some differences in the impact to the service delivery model when you have 22,000 students. But this in no way
064addresses that or solves that problem. I thought that we had a system that worked prior to this suggestion and prior to what it is today. What was that system? That was that weighted vote system where it was a second line of voting. There was also a counting the vote kind of thing nonsense. Anyway, it was so you could after a vote was taken, you would see the results and then if you were again strategic and you were a say a large district and you felt like, "You know what? I don't feel like our voice was heard and this is an issue that really impacts large districts." You could call for the weighted vote. It ranged from anywhere from I think we had like 19 votes. Ours our vote counted as 19. Um so, it was
065a much more extreme differentiation there. Um and then that was removed in the 2023 General Assembly. Okay. So, my oldest got me into watching Formula 1. And um they recently had a big rule change. And the way it works in Formula 1 is that Ferrari can veto anything because they are Ferrari. And I don't like the idea that a large school district can go, "We're Ferrari. We're going to say call for weighted vote." That's not great. Um because we don't like it. It sounds like we need to decide do we want to be a house or do we want to be a senate? This isn't either. And I don't think this makes anything more fair. And I think it actually skews things significantly in another way and in a in a way that Auburn probably
066doesn't want either given their size. Um so, those those are just the thoughts that I had. Um [clears throat] feel like this system disenfranchises large school districts and their ability to advocate for a very large percentage of the population of the students in the state. And I will agree also that um when you have a state where district size is so wildly disparate across the state and across the differences in regionality with with the state because I know that the needs of students in very small rural districts are different than the needs of our students at times and the rules that they might benefit from or feel like they need are different from what we need. Um but I don't know that dis- basically canceling out the votes of districts that represent the you know,
067the interests of so many students in our state is really to anyone's benefit. So, that's that's kind of what I am that that math is not mathing for me. It is okay not to have an opinion on this cuz it is it's messy and strange. I feel like everyone's contributed whatever fragments of thoughts I would have had. Sorry, it's time for my cat's medicine. Excellent. [laughter] That's the highlight of this meeting. I There were running up against a deadline, too. Mhm. Cuz the other thing that I was going to propose is we go back to the drawing board and talk about how we can make this equitable because the current rules are also inequitable. This proposal seems also inequitable in a different way. Um perhaps even more stringent against large districts, to your point Vice
068President Zotac. Um large districts are serving a majority of the student population, and it's a disservice to a majority of students to not allow the districts to have a voice. >> [snorts] >> The larger districts have a voice, so we're not voting yet, so I'm not going to share my vote, but I'm wondering how we can think about proposing a bylaw that will be more equitable. I was hoping this one was. Thank you so much for looking into it because I had thought the same thing that you did, that we were going to go back at least to a weighted vote. Um cuz that seemed a little bit more fair, but um I don't think the the way it exists today is fair, either. So, I don't have a solution. Yeah. Well, the good good
069news uh is so today is the deadline to report it. So, we have a whole year um until next year to talk and and work in conjunction with some of the other large districts that are struggling with this to come up with a system that is more equitable and fair and um bring medium and small-size districts, so it's not uh a divisive conversation. >> Agreed. Yeah. Can you give us some more examples of like how this might play out? Like is there not a possibility in the world where it makes more sense to have like one rule that makes more sense for a small district, but is not applicable to a large district? Like I know we like to have everything unified and as much as possible we want the outcomes to work, but like
070there's the reality of like economics of scale, and so small districts can't access that that we can. So, there must be ways to balance it that don't necessarily make a specific weighted vote or have to have everybody have exactly the same thing. And this seems like we're trying to shoehorn equity into something that might not might be better served by two rules that make more sense for the different sizes. And maybe there's like a middle band where you say this actually works better for where we live and this work the other one works better for us, and we can choose. Um I I I guess that's that's what I I kind of envision that it could be circumstances like that, but I don't know how this is applied yet to know if that's really the
071case. Well, what we have in front of us has never been done before. Um and is not in alignment with the current division between small, medium, and large. So, I have no idea what this would look like. Um I do know in times where the weighted vote was called that it wasn't Well, first of all, it never almost I think there was only one time where it ever actually changed the vote, the weighted vote then just reaffirmed Right, what was originally voted. Um and uh Anyway, there there there's just so much politics in this whole thing, and it really is um hard it is challenging for WASDA members to differentiate between the size of a district and the politics of a district, and they are not necessarily in alignment. But there is a belief that
072they are. And so there was a concern that by removing the weighted vote, that the equity work being done by WASDA was also going to be removed. And that in no way happened. So, are we like as a example of what might be, assuming that all large districts are very blue in their politics and all small districts are very red in their politics, and so if we have one system weighed over the other, then we will shift what Okay. And that that was the belief. It has not come to pass. Mhm. at all. I feel like the methods that we've talked about where we actually get to know people from all across the state and what their concerns and challenges are might be a better solution than like trying to come up with weird ways
073to gerrymander it to make it look I feel like we're into like a let's make this little shoehorn district with like this little stick coming out of it to try and get the vote the way we want. Gerrymandering, that's what I was looking for. It it almost sounds like the previous weighted version was so that the large districts could feel heard. And I think that this is the opposite of that for uh large and medium districts, perhaps, because even if they potentially voted together, they could still be overruled by quite small districts. Um so I just I just don't even know how this is fixing anything. Um that's that's my concern. I think I think are we are we ready to vote? I'm I'm waiting for the discussion. It's a lot to wade into if
074you haven't been around and what witnessed all the interesting moments. Um but you you have all captured the nuances of the situation, and it is um it to Director Sanderson's point, it's a conversation we need to have with individual board members around the state of how do we work towards a point where all voices feel heard in the system. And don't get me started on the middle-size districts. They really get infuriated. Can I then make a motion that we do not approve this measure? There There is a motion, and then we can have any further discussion. >> Sure. Sure. >> Okay. So, there is a motion to uh not approve. Is there a second? Second. Okay. It's being moved and seconded to And then I'm going to have to do the mental gymnastics that the
075motion is to not approve. So, if you're voting yes, you're voting to not approve. Sorry. Correct. Okay. [laughter] Okay. Good. Okay. Just been down that road. I love the not nots. Okay. Um any further discussion, and then I will clarify again what we're doing. And just one more note, I think that there's an important distinction that we should think about when we're having that discussion about people feeling heard. It is one thing to feel heard, it is quite another to get your way. And so I think that that is a really important thing for us to think about is yes, people should and could can and should feel heard. However, that does not indicate that they will definitely get their way, and that is something I mean, that's something I'm working on as a person.
076Um and I'm sure I'm not the only one, but um I I do think it's a valid part of any discussion we have around the difference between what you want and getting to say what you want. Uh so, I have a question which isn't uh impact the way that I'm going to vote, but I would love clarification around because it seems like there are quite a number of small districts, so this this could potentially pass. Um what is the what like in a situation which this might have passed, if this were to come to fruition, what what is the question I'm trying to ask? What power does WASDA have? Like if we just go no. I I guess I just I don't really understand like how um WASDA connects other than like my understanding was
077like, oh, we just kind of all work together to sort of like help to set the direction that we want to legislate, but maybe it's bigger than that, and I just don't understand like the big picture. No, that's that's a great question, and I just want to commend all of you to have picked up so quickly on the conversation, cuz this is incredibly um convoluted. Um unnecessarily so. So, WASDA is a member organization that we are required uh by state law to be a member of, um which is not normal in the country, but in Washington all 295 districts are required to be a member of this organization. It is a member-driven organization, so all the governance is done by the 1,447 school board members in the state. And so this is um a bylaw.
078Now, and this isn't also a norm in organization, but bylaws um are not done by the WASDA board. They're done by the whole membership. And so, that's what this is is about a change to the existing bylaws being proposed by um an individual member. And they're trying they have to get five other school districts to sign on. I will let you know that as of Friday, they only had two or three. They did not have five as of last Friday. Today is the deadline. So, if they don't get five, it won't go forward. If they do, it will go to general assembly. It will be voted on. I'm not optimistic that it would pass. Um but who knows? So, this step is akin to signing a petition to put something on the ballot. >> Exactly.
079Okay. And then just a point of clarification of how voting works in general. So, you said that normally um in with offices that we currently hold, Han would be our representative. So, is it akin to PTA where we all give her our opinions and then she votes her conscience? Yes. And then we'll have a as um there these are the bylaws. There's also legislative positions and permanent positions, and there'll be proposals to changes to those. All of that gets voted on general assembly, which is the end of September. Um Director Tran will bring for- will try to find time to have a conversation if there's anything remotely interesting or worthy of a- Most of the time we're like, yep, you got it. Um but yeah, it's very similar. We'll have a opportunity for uh Director
080Tran to ask for input on how she should represent Northshore. Unless this passes, and then two more people will get to show up. So, just to reiterate, saying yes means that we are no we are not signing on to this, and it does not take get our approval. Exactly. I also just want to appreciate the Auburn School District for attempting um to make voting more equitable. Um it was a a good attempt, and we'll keep working at it. Yep. It's a good conversation. Okay. So, Miss King, if you could bring up the proposal so we can read it, and then Well, also I can't bring up the motion, but I can read it to you. Okay. >> Board of Directors does not approve the proposed changes to the WASDA bylaws. Okay. So, voting yes means
081that we are not signing on to it. Voting no means you want us to sign on it, and then I'll just I'll wrap my head around that. Okay. So, uh seeing no further discussion, I'm going to call for the vote. Okay. So, uh the Northshore School Board will not be signing on to >> [laughter] >> the bylaw proposal. Uh Director Tran, do you want to reach out to Alyssa and let her know? Yeah, I'll do that. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. Thank you for that. I know that that may not have seemed super important in the grand scheme of things, but it is how we are governed, and ooh, you wouldn't believe the conversations we have to have. Okay. So, thank you for that. That concludes action items on our agenda for this evening. Next
082up's is a performance review. It is the monitoring report for goal two, responsible, resilient, empathetic learners. I know we just had a very robust study session with lots of questions, but I'm going to turn it to Dr. Irish to summarize what just happened. Thank you. So, presenting for your approval this evening is the monitoring report for goal two. I certify that the information contained in the report is true as of March 23rd, 2026. I also do hereby certify that with the information evidence provided within this report that I comply with the requirements set forth within this goal. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Obi Dunham, along with board member President Hayes and Director Kelly, executive directors Heather Miller, Dave Dr. Dave Wellington, Dr. Melissa Riley, Dr. Ava Thomas, Directors Dr. Craig Foster and Rick
083Ferrell for leading this work and for the thorough presentation shared in our study session earlier this this evening. Thank you, Dr. Irish. All right. So, um this is a little bit different formatted. We'll have the conversation first, and then we will have a motion. So, you I love that we're just ready to roll down at that end. >> I'm ready. Um first things first, I love that we are doing this directly after a study session, so that um all of the information we needed, we just talked about. >> Okay. I don't know if you noticed that we always do that. Well, no, but it it doesn't it doesn't quite always li- line up exactly like this because in what I appreciated was the indicators in your report. You're like, they include the stuff from the
084study session instead of a big long report that just repeats everything. So, that that's the difference that I'm trying to Oh, in other parameter reports. Mhm. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's a so I love that because we just got all that information and having to recreate all of that for this whatever. Um uh and my comments now include um I see and appreciate the work the district is doing with too little and no funding to accomplish a lot of the things that we're working on in goal two, and people have been doing too much with too little for a very long time and still continuing to support kids and make progress in these areas despite the fact that uh funding is not increasing, and um the things that kids are dealing with outside of school are
085encroaching in uh ever more difficult ways um into their their school day, um and the systems we're putting in place and uh making sure that those systems move across the district is uh really impressive given again, the underfunding that we receive. Thank you, Director Sattler. I apologize for mocking you. I am totally fine. It is 8:16 on a Monday, and uh we have been here for many hours, and it is also Monday night. And as we all know, Elizabeth gets a little goofy on Monday nights. >> [laughter] >> I echo Vice President Sattler's sentiments. I really appreciate uh I wasn't the sentiment about Monday night, but the sentiment about [laughter] the report. Uh but but that was a good comment about Monday night. Um yeah, I I appreciate the work that's being done there with
086the MTSS and looking at attendance and the robust discussions around it that we're having with the administration and amongst the school board members and Superintendent Irish. So, um there's um more work to be done there as there always is more work to be done to improve, but I look forward to um the future of this. Thank you, Director Tran. Director Sa- uh sorry, Sanderson. The other S. So, um while we were having our discussion, I highlighted some little notes for myself so that I didn't have to kind of drag it out of my brain later. Um the two things that I wanted to highlight were um the proactive work that um Dr. Riley and Dr. Thomas did on developing the ethnic studies trademark course. So, that again we're a leader, um and knowing that that
087is being applied in ways where our students are accessing aspects of it even if they aren't necessarily enrolled in the specific ethnic studies class because other teachers are applying it to um classes that all students have to take, which is fabulous. Um and then I also wanted to highlight the fact that our district um provides more counselors than the state funds, and also infinitely more mental health counselors because the state funds none of them, and anything times zero is, you know, a lot more. So, um I also just wanted to thank the voters for passing our levies and thus supporting us to be able to do the right thing for kids even if the state is not funding it the way they should. Thank you. That was so well said. Uh can I just say
088ditto? Uh >> [laughter] >> Everyone who has spoken before me has said all of the right things. I echo your sentiments. Thank you, everyone sitting in the corner for all the work that you did. Um I really appreciate it, and even the data that we saw where we have concerns about some of the groups of our students, I I know that we have experts looking into it, and that we're working on it, and that makes me feel really good about you know, what we're doing to make sure that all kids have access to a welcoming and inclusive place to learn. Okay, I really have nothing to add. That was great. Thank you so much. Makes my job easy. So, um I'm just going to say ditto to all of that. Also, do I do want
089a quick shout-out to Evergreen Hospital because they do provide our middle school mental health support. So, um again, not funded by the state, but they support us in that work. Um okay, so with that, um I will call for a motion. Um again, a little bit different with goals. Um but the three options are in front of you to choose from. I make a motion that based on the information provided, the board finds that the superintendent has reasonably interpreted the provisions of the relevant goal policy and the district is making reasonable progress towards achieving the desired result called for in the relevant policy. Second. Good job, newbies. Okay. [laughter] So, we >> we don't have to do the opposite this time. Being moved and seconded, is there any further discussion on this? Okay, so I'm
090going to call for the vote, and board members are going to take a few minutes to fill out the paperwork. We need Kimberly's vote. Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's okay. You got it. Okay, so purple is for that. And then the green has something for you to sign. This goes You get these papers back. >> [snorts] >> Almost done. You're doing great. Yeah. We're going to wrap this up soon, I promise. Sorry. It's okay. You're doing great. I'm so glad you were here tonight. Really am. >> [gasps] >> Okay, uh we are going to move to information items. Like Oh, by the way, this passed. >> [laughter] >> Sorry. >> [gasps] >> I'm trying to be efficient here. Um okay, so up next are two information items. The first as alluded to earlier, a little teaser,
091uh is the building condition assessment and assess asset preservation program report, which is required. Dr. Irish. Yes. So, >> [laughter] >> So, under WAC 392-347-023 requires a school buildings that receive school board um or school construction assistant program, otherwise known as SCAP, uh funding and were accepted as complete by the school board as of December 31st, 1993, be included in the required asset prevention program, otherwise known as APP. As required by the APP, an annual building condition assessment is performed over the 30-year lifespan of the building, and results are reported to the board at a public meeting. Eight schools have been have been included in the required asset preservation program annual report. Scores range from 67.06% to 94.95% with 100% being excellent. All buildings included in the required report met or exceeded their expected BCA
092score for the 2025-2026 school year. Um a summary report is attached. Okay, and just to clarify that these this is this report is not about buildings currently or just recently under construction, that these are random? No, cuz concert hall's not 30 years. How do we pick these eight schools? >> it's probably because Inglemoor is over 30 years old, and it's an active >> But it's the concert hall. It's the concert hall, which has scored really high. And it's not 30 years old, I promise you that. Cuz I haven't been around that long. It [snorts] has the acceptance date on the form. >> Thank you. It's everything that um received SCAP funding. Ah. >> So, not all of our projects received SCAP funding. The concert hall did indeed as So, you'll see some roll in, and
093then if they're 30 years old, they'll roll off. But then the building board acceptance date isn't necessarily the date that we took occupation of it, correct? Because I know there were concerts in the concert hall before 2024. That's right. It's when you we do the final sign-off of the project, um which has to be is significantly after we occupy generally. So, just to clarify, they're like Kokanee says 1994, which is Am I mathing right? Is that more than 30 years? So, this is the last time that Kokanee would show up on this? Likely. >> Or that part of Kokanee, like, you know, the other part will eventually maybe if it gets SCAP funding. It It It doesn't qualify. So, it likely will just roll off. >> Not beyond. So, this goes bye-bye. Okay, thank you.
094Uh can I ask a question about the building condition assessment? Um and what happens when you fall below a certain threshold? Cuz as a teacher, 60% is cause for concern. We're getting close to needing tutoring. That's exactly right. [laughter] This is really information that [snorts] OSP OSPI gathers to help them with that program. Gives them information about the durability of buildings, etc. Uh helps them know how buildings should qualify, etc. So, there's not an immediate um answer, but it does point out that as buildings age, they have they need help. They don't stay at 100%. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, cuz the ones I'm looking at with Canyon Park Middle School, they're only 17 years old, and they've dropped into the 60s, whereas the one we're just talking about Kokanee Elementary Schools, um gym, music, and kitchen
095Yeah. >> [snorts] >> is at year 30. Yep. So, quite a bit older. So, there's a a very prescriptive um this is how you grade them. So, it depends on the materials that were used, what type of construction, who your contractor was. Was it a low-bid project? Was there faulty Like, it's all the things that make up a building. So, that's just uh it really depends. So, is is this just for data collection for like on the state's behalf, or do we need to be like we need to be concerned about these buildings in the near future? There are a lot of other ways that we that we gather information about that helps us prioritize what receives bond funding and programs that's much more comprehensive than what we do for this. So, this is um
096very informational for us as a district. And and just to keep it really fun, um we when we run a bond, we state what we're using the money for. So, short of like an emergency HVAC system or roof leakage, um we have to do Kokanee um Shelton View >> Shelton View and it was an S1. Shelton View third or second of Leota, second of Inglemoor because that's what we told the community and we were going to do that. So, that's required. Um and then there will be and you'll get to be part of this. Capital capital projects task force that will start coming together in a couple years that will review all of the data information and put together some recommendations that then the board decides, okay, here's what we're putting in the next bond.
097And I will also say Director Kelly that um as along with those major projects, we do have a list of building improvement projects and a lot of those result from things like this. So we can replace the HVAC system, we can replace whichever brought their score down. So it does help inform the smaller projects. So places like Kokanee are higher in percentages because they had repair work that would have covered the things that would have brought them below where Canyon Park is currently or something. Potentially or they could just have a better construction. Yeah. And then I just wanted to make sure that I understood the requirements around the bond because my understanding was that we are not legally required to fulfill what we said to the community. It's more about we need to do
098that so we build trust with the community when we say we're going to do something, we're going to carry through. I would put a pin in that question. It's a little complicated [laughter] answer. All right. Got it. I was always told we had to do what we said we were going to do. In the bond. It's best practice. Yeah, it's the best practice. Just clarifying. >> any construction contest cuz that doesn't turn out well from my experience. We'll just We'll just go with best practice there. >> Okay. Somebody will get back to us on that. For now, that's what we're doing cuz that's what we said we're going to do. I am not suggesting that we don't. Just to be clear. Okay. All right. Don't go away. More fun to come. Next information item is
099the use of the general contractor construction manager or GCCM project delivery model for the Inglemoor High School and Leota Middle School phase two replacement projects, Dr. Irish. >> So clearly I do not know my difference between a GCCM and a PDM project delivery method. As my background is in instruction and not capital projects. Uh >> [laughter] >> So thank you Dree for saving me. So this is the GCCM project delivery method for Inglemoor High School and Leota Middle School phase two replacement projects. I'll leave it there unless you want to ask any more questions. >> [snorts] >> This is the other way and then we're working on doing the different new way. Next way. >> right? >> Yeah, this is one where we have hired an architect. And the architect that we hired for phase
100one will stay with us through phase two for both projects. We will, however, go out for a contractor Okay. for phase two for both projects and we'll go out early which will be very soon um to make sure that we can continue the project from phase one seamlessly into phase two for both projects. Okay. >> So with Leota, we have a little more pressure cuz they're uh they're going fast. So phase two can start fairly soon. We have a little bit more time with Inglemoor. Does it work this way because we had to do it in phases over time and so we wanted one to be fully complete as opposed to the other projects where we are looking at doing the whole thing the whole scope in one go? That's a great question and it
101was one of the differentiators between whether we did progressive design build or GCCM. In the 2022 bond, we talked about the importance of doing kind of a whole planning for all the phases which really led us to wanting to get an architect to be contractually obligated to us not through a contractor. So great question, yeah. Okay. Thank you. Feel like we've learned so much about construction. >> Yeah, thank you for being a great teacher, Dree. Yes. Okay, so that concludes our information items. Next up is new business and I actually have something and I know it's hard to believe but it's time to talk about graduations. So I have the commencement speech sign-up sheet that I want to start passing. There are seven opportunities for speaking so two people get to go twice. Just for
102the new ones, so we speak at Northshore Learning Options, Innovation Lab, SAS and then Woodinville High School, Inglemoor High School, Bothell and Northcreek and one board member speaks at each. Just as you're thinking about which one I'm going to sign up for, the four comprehensives happen over two days, the 15th and the 16th of June, one in the afternoon and one in the evening and then the others are the week before. Um From personal experience, couple thoughts. If you have a graduating child, you get your kids if you want it. You get to speak at your kids' graduation. So just you know, just for if you had a senior senior at a school, you get you get dibs. The other is There at Pop Keeney, it's thousands of people. If this It's a big one.
103The others are much smaller. Two of them take place at the concert hall and one at the INPAC, the Performing Arts Center at Bothell. So they're a smaller venue. Just as you're thinking about that. So the sign-up sheet is for speakers and this is super important because it involves Peggy. She's going to She has already sent out but she's going to send it out again, the RSVPs for the graduation ceremonies. We're giving y'all a deadline of May 1st to let her know. I know everybody's calendars are crazy and things happen and kids get sick and work and all the things but this is not unlike planning a wedding for these schools and we are guests of honor and we're up on the stage and they have placards and we're in the speeches and the whole
104thing. So um take some time over the next couple weeks. We have a month break before we meet again as a board to really look at your calendar and get to Peggy on all the graduation ceremonies. There is one more that's not on this list. We don't speak at it. They don't care as much if we're there but it's the ATP, the adult in transition and it's the best. I'm just putting a plug in. It is the best graduation. >> And we didn't get to do it last year cuz the rules changed about age and so we are all hankering for that graduation. It is the best. This is why we do the work. So I know it's it is a crazy couple weeks. It takes a lot of time but it is You cry
105the first three times you hear Pomp and Circumstance and by the fourth time you're like, all right, this can be played faster. So we're signing or picking them now? >> for speeches. We're picking them now? Well, ideally because >> Cuz you then you also said you have a month. So I'm confused about my expectations. >> Yes, this is for speaking and you're only signing up for one, maybe two if you really want to talk a lot. Um Though you don't get Northcreek, that Carson gets that. And then we have already been sent out an RSVP from Peggy about all the graduations. If you're not sure, she's going to send it out again. Um Right? Yeah. And and I'm just really encouraging that people make a commitment in their calendars by May 1st at the absolute
106latest so that our high schools know who to expect to show up at those ceremonies cuz it really does It is very important. So So just to summarize what you said reiterate it sign up tonight to speak. So find a date that works for you and then please don't sign up and then not be able to show up to a graduation ceremony cuz like President Hayes says it is like a wedding. There's a lot of effort put into it and if there is a no show, it doesn't look good. So if you can't go, don't come. Well, don't sign up. Don't sign up. But but but also there's a later timeline at if you need to only RSVP P to some of the graduations unlike me where I'm like, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
107yes. Right? So there's a later deadline for that but today is the Signing up for I will sign up for at least one graduation speech and I I am probably due for signing up for two since I have avoided that for two years. >> [laughter] >> Um and and all you're doing is writing your name down on a piece of paper. You're not writing the speech in the next 24 hours. There will be a lot of support and guidance for those of you that are new to graduation speeches. So it's and it's they're only like four or five minutes. This is not This is not a 20-minute college Harvard graduation thing. Short. Sweet. But it does come very fast and we do have some high schools that want the speech weeks in advance. Bracken? Yes.
108That That would be uh one of our comprehensive high schools would like that nice and early. Yeah. Um so, that that would be the one if you're if you're like to work ahead, that is the school for you. >> Yes. Which school is that? Woodinville. They like planning way in advance. Yes. But if But if you the rest of them you can just bring it the day of. So, they they want the speeches so they can time? I I've never before had to It it is uh a unique situation for [laughter] Woodinville, but yes, they they ask for your written copy of your speech. >> It's a very coordinated effort and they want to make sure that the themes are appropriate, that they've got no overlapping of comments, there's no redundancies, it's a good performance,
109it's a good >> It's show for everyone. >> I was not kidding when I said it's like a wedding. These are some >> It's more like a TED Talk, which I also produce, so. Yeah, it's a well-organized machine our graduation ceremonies. There's no pressure. >> Wow. I'm impressed. Would anyone be offended if I took two not comprehensive high school spots? Okay. >> Becky, you want to do the same two on I Yeah, I was going to just do it all one night. Perfect. But I'd write different speeches. >> You know, nobody comes other than the people in this room, nobody would else would know. I would totally still change it for anyone listening. You might be better than me. Okay, that was all Is that right? Is that all I had for new business? Thank
110you, Peggy. Um that's all I had for new business. Did you guys fill up all the spots? Oh, no, you didn't. >> No, we left you a spot. >> You left me You left me the one that I have to turn it in ahead of time. It's more that all of my all of my kids' besties from HiCap are at the other high school. >> Yeah, that's okay. It No, you don't have to. I have [laughter] given I don't know how many of these. So, it's all good. >> by all of the like don't don't overcommit, turn in your speech at like I'll I'll just take one It's okay. It's all good. Um well done, team. All right, and then just a reminder RSVP'ing Spend the break between board meetings looking at your calendar and
111committing. And yes, okay. Seeing no other board new business, I am going to move us cuz I'm going to start getting the hand signals from Elizabeth down here. Um board reports and Elizabeth, you get to go first. Yippee skippy. Okay. Come on. There we go. Mine is very short because it is late at night. Um so, on March 9th after our board meeting, I uh attended our study session that took place then. I also later in the month on the 17th attended the Kenmore Elementary STEM Fair. I am the proud parent of uh two [clears throat] participants. They did all their work themselves and it was apparent and I'm very excited about that. I love a a student only project, which is a thing of beauty. On the 19th, I met with Dr. Irish and
112Director Kelly for updates about things going on in the district. On today before here before now, I was at the study session. Well done. All right, next is Director Kelly. I'm in line. Uh it's it's What's on the Oh. >> Yeah, we mess around with things here. Keep your new toes. I Every time I thought you've just kind of made a decision. Uh Uh well, despite not seeing me, I did attend the study session on March 9th. You might have heard my very low and gravelly voice via phone. Um and on March 19th, I also met with Director Sotech and uh Superintendent Irish. And then uh I attended the study session earlier today. Thank you, Director Kelly. Next is Director Sanderson. All right, so on the 9th I attended the student wellness and safety study
113session. On the 10th, I attended a racial and educational justice community panel and was very impressed with the speeches of the or the what was shared by the students there um and had to like write my own notes to answer my own questions so I could keep myself quiet and just listen. Um but it was really great to listen to them. Um on the 13th, I attended the Northshore Schools Foundation board meeting. Um and uh on the 17th, I attended an immigration justice meeting at my church just for interest. Um it is music in our schools month. Um so, on the 11th, I attended the North or North Creek High School's first band concert of the school year. Um and it was really great fun to watch them um actually get to be out and
114perform for us. Um on the 18th, um I had lunch with Dr. Irish and our union partners. Um and then I attended a coordination meeting with him and Sandy. Um and then I went to the student advisory council uh meeting where I learned that students love to work for gold stars and so do adults. Um and then I got to attend the uh Skyview band concert that night. Um the 19th, I went to the new directors uh meeting through WASDA. And then on the 20th, I attended North Creek's Intercultural Festival. On the 21st, I uh went to the Eastside Native American Education silent auction and I'm interested excited to get to try my enchanted forest soda syrup soon. And will and went to the study session on gold two earlier. Thank you, Director Sanderson. Next
115is Director Tran. All right. Uh what is it? Monday, March 9th, I attended the wellness and safety study session. Tuesday, March 10th, I attended the third grade and fourth grade multiple school choir, marimba, and band concert. It was very impressed by the member all of them all of them. Um and then Friday, March 20th, I attended the um North Creek High Colt Intercultural Cultural Night. Um and there were lots of booths and really impressed by the students and appreciated the the food that was brought to the event. Saturday, March 21st, I attended Washington's first teen-led mental health summit hosted by Nexus Hub, which was founded by a Northshore student named Tanvi Arkapoody and um also hosted by other students in the region, not just at Northshore. Um also there was President Hayes and Superintendent Irish.
116Also that day, I um attended the Southeast Asian event at the Washington State History Museum with community partners and I learned a lot about the Hmong community and um then that same evening attended the Eastside Native American Education program silent auction. I got a couple things out of there. It's just exciting like a bespoke shirt. Um Sunday, March 22nd, um Oh, I don't know why I have that on there. That's the Bruce Lee story over at the Seattle Children's Museum. It's the Young Dragon show. If you haven't caught that, it's fun for students to go. That's a local story. Um pretty interesting. Monday, March 23rd, uh attended uh the study session. Um we had that robust conversation around attendance and doing right by the students, looking at the data with nuance and setting the right
117goals with the right metric. Thank you, Director Tran, although you just absolutely aged me that you had to point out that Bruce Lee was a local story. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, um uh so, very much similar, I did uh also attend the Northshore PTSA Council meeting last Monday night. Um all They are starting conversations around advocacy for the next state legislative session and so some interesting ideas coming forward on how we can all work together um in light of the millionaire tax passing and not a lot of parameters, although they did say they intend this for education funding. So, um I have continued attending PTA meetings. I also attended the Washington State's first teen-led mental health summit. Again, a shout-out to Tanvi and all the work that she's done and all of the students that were
118involved in pulling that together. It was very well-organized event. And then last night I attended the Ugadi's and Sri Rama Navami celebration held at the EMPAC. I highly recommend that we make sure somebody's in attendance at that every year. It is they are so um honored that somebody from the district participate at this event. So, I just make sure that you are not dressed in jeans and you're prepared to give a few words. happens every year. Um that is it. Reminder tomorrow morning, we're meeting at SAS, it's at 9:00 a.m., not at 10:00 a.m. start time. And we will not be meeting in our traditional first Monday of uh the second Monday of the month because it is spring break. So, everybody have a lovely April, enjoy some time off and away, and we'll see
119you in a month. Or tomorrow morning. Or tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning the rest