Shelton School Board June 10 , 2025

001It is 6 o'clock. So I would like to call this meeting to order. If everyone would rise for 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 all. Thank you all for coming to the meeting tonight. Board President Wheelander is out of town, so I will be running the meeting this evening. Board members, have you had a chance to take a look at the agenda? I motion to approve this evening's agenda. I second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda. All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say no. Hearing none. The agenda has passed. Now we'll go over to Superintendent Jesse for the for your

002report. Thank you, Vice President Davidson, other board directors, family members, students, staff, and community members. Uh, I will start off with um, uh, the events that took place last Thursday and Friday. Uh, that was the graduation ceremonies for both Choice uh, 712 as well as Cedar High School. really a wonderful both wonderful events to celebrate the work that our students have and of course the uh outstanding services that we provide them. Uh able to talk to some of the students and hear some of their stories and their excitement and some of their next steps. Uh a couple quick things about that was really recognizable was that uh at Choice we had we have 50 graduates at Choice. That is some of the expansion of the programs that we have there. Um that allow students no

003matter where they're at in getting their credits for high school graduation. Uh that we can meet them wherever they're at, support them in a way that supports the whole child. Uh so not just academics, but how to navigate life. Um and really excited to watch all those students go across there. Um and there was a number of students who it was first generation where they had a high school graduate. So, congratulations to those students. Um, at Cedar, uh, really recognizable about the cords that were around their necks. 12 of the 16 graduates at Cedar are a part of Shelton Promise and so they will be slated to go to Evergreen State next year tuition free. So, congratulations to all those students as well. If you didn't know, Shelton High School is having its graduation ceremony

004this Saturday at 11. Um, plenty of seats. Uh, I don't know if it's going to fit everybody that's here today, but yes, there'll be a um, great ceremony. So, come join us uh, again at 11 at the arena at St. Martins's uh, University. One of the things that we offer is summer program. Um last year we made a number of revisions to the services we provide. It's really gunned towards uh getting students at to grade level uh in the core content areas. That will begin on June 23rd through July 17th. It runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Okay. So, again, June 23rd, July 17th, 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. uh Monday through Thursday. And this is for students in second all the way up to their senior year specific to 10

005for grades 10 and 12, we have credit recovery. So, if there is some credit recovery, if you have any questions, uh any families that are out there, just contact your school. We do have this information up on the district's website underneath families. you can find this and uh if there's anything we can do for you. Registration has closed most certainly for the elementary portion of the program, but I'm sure we can find some space especially for around credit recovery for you. Uh tonight you'll hear um from our athletic director uh Mr. Chamberlain um regarding athletics and our activities. One of the things that we're really proud about here in the Shelton Scottish is all the things that we do offer. It's quite incredible. I won't list out all the clubs and I can't even list

006out all the athletics, but he'll go through some of that information for you. I did want to say a spec special recognition to our athletics. We've continuously do very well in wrestling, swimming, um uh wrestling, swimming, and uh powerlifting uh for sure and then even bowling this year. So, it was really outstanding uh for our students. Uh and then cross country and track are usually uh a number of sports also that we usually have a couple students place uh in state. With that, that will really conclude my comments. Um and uh looking forward to wrapping up a another successful school year here for the Shelton School District. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Next up is community comments. As part of the regular schoolboard meeting, the board welcomes community members to make public comments in

007person and/or by phone as conditions allow. Please see the full script with call-in instructions and guidelines for community comments that's displayed on the screen above. We do have several pages where people have signed up tonight. So, um, please forgive me if I pronounce your name incorrectly. Just come up to the podium when I call your name and and let me know if I've pronounced it wrong. First up, we have Stephen Wnes. Is that And if you accidentally signed up thinking you were just signing in for coming into the meeting, um then let me know. We will move on to William Sullivan. Hi, my name is William Sullivan. Um, I have both a first and second grader at Bordeaux School. And I don't know exactly at this point because I've been up here fighting for my

008kids for a long time now. And I don't know if it's the teachers that are doing the best they can and the state that's enforcing new regulations and stuff that's really crushing the school, but I opened up a website uh speakupmasonount.com and teachers are pouring in comments and again we have a lot of kids here tonight. It's unfortunate because I really want to start reading some of these comments from the teachers out loud of what's going on in the schools. Um I've reached out to several board members. They're not returning my emails. I What's a guy supposed to do at that point? Everybody's saying, "Well, it's the state making us do it, and we I can't get responses from emails." Um, so I don't really know what we're going to do next, honestly, at this

009point. Um, we're going to have to start answering some of these concerns. So, I'll just start reading some of the teachers comments. At SHS, multiple teachers have been nonrenewed due to budget, but the high school has just announced the neo neopotistic hiring of former student teacher and the wife of the district accountant. Both positions have been filed without input from the department heads, and staff were told that job listings were a mistake. If we don't have the budget to keep qualified staff we already employ, it's awfully suspicious and incredibly disrespectful to have made new hires for these departments. And again, you know, these are just teachers emails. So, I mean, this is what our teachers are thinking. The people who actually work at the schools, teacher OBJH are being moved out of their areas of

010expertise. For example, a L ML elementary certified teacher being moved to science and English and history teachers being forced to teach science and English and history teachers being forced to teach art and many other arbitrarily being moved to different grade levels. All being moved are the experienced teachers who feel they are being moved to try to get new cheaper teachers. So, I don't know exactly what's going on with these schools, but the teachers are screaming. And that's just a few of them. I mean, I'm not going to have time to read anymore tonight. But the teachers are sending me lots of emails saying, "Things have to change." And I asked them, "What's going on? Why come to the schoolboard meeting with me?" And they're like, "We will get fired. We can't come to the school

011board. It feels like we're in Germany and we're dealing with Nazis." They say if they speak up they will be fired. And they say I need to take it to the top. [Applause] Garrett Baldwin. Sorry. really hard to hear you. Okay, thank you Roxan Smith. Hi, I'm Roxy Smith. I teach at Oakland Bay Junior High. Did you know that as an art teacher, I give students tools to be creative problem solvers? Did you know that my students ask if I'm retiring or that have have I been asked to leave? Did you know that 27% of my students have been absent for 10 or more times in term three alone? These students are missing out on peer interactions. They're missing out on problem solving creatively and are unfortunately setting lifelong patterns for employability. Did you know

012that students have produced some amazing artwork this year that will be displayed in the auxiliary gym Thursday after the moving up celebration? And we'd love to have you come and take a look at what they've produced. Thank you. [Applause] I've got Taylor Greenberg, but it says donating time. Okay. Um, Lauren Hayes. All [Applause] right. Good evening. I'm uh reading this statement here on behalf of another teacher that couldn't be here tonight. Good evening and thank you for hearing my statement. I've been a teacher in uh Shelton High School for seven years. I would like you to know that this has been the most challenging and rewarding job in my life. I cherish working with the students and their parents to help them learn new skills that can remain with them for life. Learning such skills

013and teaching is never easy, but the commitment I have seen from so many students makes all the effort worthwhile. Several weeks ago, I was told my position would be discontinued because of budget concerns and declining enrollment. In short, I've been laid off. The same layoff has happened for other teachers as well. But recently we have received information that leads me to believe the reasons given for my layoff are not true. That is why I am here this evening in support of all teachers. This includes those who have retained their jobs for the next academic year. As professionals who have committed their time and money to teaching in this district, we deserve honesty about our jobs. We have earned the right to make this request. We do so on behalf of the most important people, the

014students. The details of my case would take too long to mention this evening, but I believe the details of my case and those of others will be brought forward to you. I hope this that my hope is that the board will review these details. We're simply asking for honesty and fairness. Again, teaching at Shelton has been the most rewarding time of my professional life. On behalf of the most important individuals involved, the students, I ask that you take time to learn the truth about what is happening. I believe you share my commitment for creating the best learning environment possible in Shelton schools. Thank you again for your time, [Applause] Marilyn Erin. So, first and foremost, I want to acknowledge those individuals retiring this year. I don't know if any of you are still here, but

015thank you for your service to this district. It's amazing and you are extremely appreciated. Secondly, I want to acknowledge all the student athletes and clubs. Um, I stopped Scott earlier and said that it would be very nice. Um, I know he does this presentation every year, but I think it would be great if they actually notified the schools and maybe the families, especially those that are listed in the presentation, so that they could actually be here and be present when they're being acknowledged. That would be wonderful. And uh my children have all participated in sports throughout their years in school and they still are and it's a great program. My third grader took first in the 400 meter dash last week. So that was pretty awesome. Anyway, um as a community member, I'm here to

016remind you that under the Washington Open Public Meetings Act, RCW42.30.1101G, 30.110 1G. While you are allowed to evaluate the superintendent in executive session, any final action, including contract renewal, salary increases, or termination, must be voted on in a public meeting. This is not optional. It is the law. The public has a legal right to witness those decisions being made, and the board has a legal obligation to conduct them openly and transparently. So, I am asking directly, will the board be making any decisions tonight regarding the superintendent's contract, compensation, or continued employment? If so, those actions must occur in the open session and be visible to the public. The community is watching. We expect lawful, transparent governance, and we will hold the board accountable to those standards. I am also here tonight to share concerns from

017multiple Shelton School District staff members concerning concerns about student well-being, staff treatment, and transparency and leadership. First, we've been informed, or I've been informed over the year that elementary students will drop to just two 15minute recesses next year, replacing the third with an end of day brain break. The following year, even that brain break is being eliminated. This reduction from three recesses this year to two goes against clear research showing the importance of physical activity for learning and emotional regulation. Our kids need movement, not just more time at their desks. Second, staff are reporting serious facility and safety issues. At one of the schools, a broken window was only addressed and there was tape over the broken window when a student put their arm through it and they were injured. And then it wasn't repaired.

018There was a piece of wood put in for a temporary fix. HVAC systems are in need of repairs and classrooms are hitting 80 plus degrees. And the only solution offered is if Jess Prisette is after me, she's donating her time to me. She is after you. Can I keep going? Yeah. Thank you. So the solution instead of, you know, turning on the air conditioning because we might not be able to pay that bill, there's fans being moved into the classrooms and they're stifling air just being moved around. And not all windows on the schools are able to open. On top of this, we are seeing a wave of forced resignations, not voluntary. As you know, there's been 66 plus resignations this year, but under the pressure of resign or be fired or hey school administrators,

019you need to do an evaluation on an individual, but let's give them a bad eval so we can get them out the door. That kind of culture is driving good people out. Staff are also being told that if the levy fails, assistant princip principles, parro educators, and even sports and pool programs may be cut. These feel less like facts and more like threats. You can't threaten and bully the community into approving a levy. Just doesn't work that way. A staff climate survey conducted by the union was never shared with the district. Shortly after, the union president, lo and behold, was hired into a newly created teaching administrative role of student services coordinator at the high school, raising real concerns about transparency, trust, and even ethical decisions. These are just some of the issues and concerns

020that have been shared with me over this year. There are many more, but there's only so much time, and frankly, it doesn't seem like the board is listening or even genuinely cares. It will be interesting to see how elections play out when the new candidates running are actually willing to listen to the staff, the community, and take action. [Applause] Dr. Judith Serrano Thank you. I um am here tonight because um I am supporting a colleague, a previous colleague uh from when I worked here in the district. Um I'm seeing now and I'm getting really nervous because I haven't been back in the district for about seven years. Although I have kept in touch through other colleagues but I am astounded at what I am hearing. I thought that it was just happening at Evergreen but

021I guess not. I am astounded because teachers at Evergreen, experienced teachers who have had training that this district has paid for, had been have been let go or as they said forcibly, what was that? forcibly resigned or they have actually been taken through the two years of hell that you all know about. I'm here to say the truth as I have heard it. The truth is is that there's a lot going on in this district that people need to know about. Oh, and by the way, there's a whole group of people in the back there, some of whom don't speak a lot of English. When I was here, and we had a thriving dual language program, thanks to a number of people, but predominantly our principles, Dr. Steve Warner and Anita and and I'm sorry,

022and um Mrs. Breto, who is now Adena Thea. Um they were our principles. They were strong. They stood for us. They stood up for us. They helped to create the program. They allowed us to create the program. And that dual language program was known all across the state and even nationally as many of us attended conferences, national conferences to show the strength that the the Shelton school district had in designing and actually implementing a language program, a dual language program in that was actually successful. It was one of the first in the state and now other states are implementing what we did and this program here is falling apart slowly, painfully. We had students that were excelling. We had evidence and data that Dr. Warner had presented at a number of different conferences that showed

023that our students were doing better. May I have someone else's time that offered it before? Oh, I'm sorry. That was the warning. Thank you. So I I'm I'm sure that um that that's that that uh and I have lost my train of thought now, but we we know that our students were doing well. Dr. Warner had data that he took to different conferences to let people know that every student is able to do and do well in a dual language program. Now, if you don't want a dual language program in Shelton, you should say so. You shouldn't put all these teachers through all of this work, all of the heartache that you're doing. The teachers at Evergreen are heartbroken. And the ones that have left the year that I left, I left with 16 other

024teachers. That's almost what I think it was more than a third. It had to have been at least almost a half of our of our staff. And it was for the same reason, a lack of support. A lack of support and harassment. downright harassment. Whose idea is it to harass a teacher for two years when you have an experienced teacher? I originally came here in support of ID Valobos who is an excellent teacher. I myself when I was at the school observed her classes. She had many many skills even then. Who would let a teacher like that go? And I'm sure after hearing the first few people who came before me, that's what's happening to a lot of teachers. I wish I could be more pretty in my speech tonight. I did have something written.

025I even had it on my computer. I was going to read it. But I think that you guys that are sitting up there, I think the board needs to know. You need to know the truth. And I'm almost guessing that you probably do know the truth, but you also need to do something about it. And the first step could be honesty, Erica Marbett. Oh, which one? It's not a very common name. This is awesome. Margaret Warren. Margaret Warren. Oh, I'm Erica Marvet. Oh, Marvet. Nice. Nice to meet you. I'm gonna wait until uh everybody gets up here. [Applause] Okay. All right. Please don't let this detract from we know the grueling work that you do as the school board. This is not an easy task and so thank you for listening. 66 plus resignations. That's

026a lot. That's a lot. I'm just making note of who of what was said before. This issue of dual language and the firing of Mrs. V Lobos may seem like a small one for the school board and you may feel ready to move on, but my goal is to persuade you that that is significant. It is significant and it merits your attention and action. We understand that you contend with many issues as a board members and this is just a small one. Furthermore, only one of you has been around since we started, since multilingual Shelton started coming to school, the school board in 2020. And this turnover means that you are likely to take the superintendent at face value. But we feel that he and principal Kennedy have been disingenuous about this firing. Some of

027these parents have been involved behind me with have been involved with Evergreen Elementary for many years and they will let's see they will sorry I think ah for many years and they will be involved with the district long after you and the superintendent have departed. They we will we will still be asking will be here asking for dual the support of dual language because it is the right fit for our community. We have this strange pattern of communication where we can talk to you in public comment but you don't respond to us. The superintendent talks to you but we cannot counter. We have been asking for dialogue and public meetings with the school board for years about dual language, but we've had none yet. It is just not believable that a teacher of Mrs. Vilobos's

028caliber would somehow fail to be a productive teacher and merit poor evaluations two years in a row after receiving good evaluations for so many years. We know her skills. We know her mentorship and her efforts to bring extra resources to Evergreen. And so we can only conclude that Principal Kennedy and Superintendent Jesse are abusing her contract. You can't fire someone for speaking to you about different models of teaching. But apparently to them, you can misrepresent them in their evaluation and that is okay. No, it is not okay. It is not okay. And by the way, I've asked uh the gentleman Garrett Baldwin, who did not testify in the beginning, if I could have his minutes, and he did say yes. So, I'm going to go over. And what message does this give to other teachers?

029Keep your independent thoughts to yourself or you will be fired. This affects teachers in the entire school district. This negative negativity and toxicity is noticed by students and families. It affects the teaching environment. If the superintendent and the principal don't start from a foundation of decency and honesty, they should go. Not Mrs. Vilobos. We suspect that you continue to view the dual language program as a privilege and an option for kids who are proficient enough to make use of it. We disagree. We see it as a culturally appropriate way to teach scholastic content to English learners and be and the best way to bring them through to proficiency in English. Your community is asking you to support and expand the dual language model. And this from an parent who asked me to read. Although ESL

030services may comply with the Washington state constitutional public education requirement, they lack an important cultural aspect and important cultural exchange opportunities for native English speakers. Supporting Spanish inherently supports other languages and cultures, providing opportunities in our community that we otherwise will miss out on. don't cheat our students out of a worthwhile education and who will they will have to compete globally. Finally, we we have a petition online uh for the resignation of of the superintendent if he will not be an honest and forthrighting good face faith actor for this community. Right now, our petition has uh 842 signatures both online and on paper in Spanish and in English. Thank you. [Applause] The petition is on multilingual Shelton and it's also been shared on Shelton Talks. [Applause] Jenna Stewart Hi, I am reading on behalf of

031teachers who did not feel comfortable putting their names on and faces on their comments. Did you know the safe and welcoming environment in our schools doesn't happen by chance. It's the result of the dedication and hard work of teachers and staff who strive to create a positive and calm space for all students. Did you know that teachers and staff in our district face significant stress as growing demands continue to pull them further from their families, friends, and personal lives? And the very real fear of retaliation keeps them from advocating for themselves. Did you know that even with the added unrealistic expectations, teachers and staff continue to show up for our students with positivity and hope? Another comment. Did you know that our teachers were so committed to our students that they invested significant personal time

032and money to help their students grow? Did you know evaluations have been changed after being signed by teachers? Did you know that despite lack of district and administrative support, teachers continue to show up every day with positivity for their students? Did you know that I am incredibly proud of my students who worked so hard this year and made significant growth in both ELA and math? Did you know that while these students were working diligently, they were also trying to ignore the students throw the student throwing chairs at them, tossing tables, or screaming and threatening them? Did you know that none of this was documented? Did you know that my building administration did their best to support us and keep us safe? And we're incredibly thankful for them. But did you know this behavior will never

033show up in the district data because we no longer write these behaviors up, which has a result caused our district behavior data to show that these behaviors are not happening. Did you know that despite all these distractions, we continue to learn and foster a warm classroom? Thank you. [Applause] Megan Trible. Did you know that students at Evergreen walk into the art room every day excited to learn and create? Recently, every student wrote or communicated about their artwork that was up for our student showcase. I led my GA classes on gallery walks to look at and talk about amazing art that evergreen students made. And the students were so excited to point out their own work and explain how they made their paintings, drawings, and sculptures. This excitement continued as they showed their work. off to

034their families during our student showcase. Thank you. And did you know that arts, visual arts, music, theater, and dance are considered core subjects at both the national and state level? Did you know that research shows that visual arts help students acquire English skills? English learners who engage in arts programs at their schools and increase their listening, writing, and speaking skills. Can you read them for me? This process occurs through discussing their personal artwork aloud and writing about art. Did you know research also shows that engagement in an art program enhances writing quality and early reading skills? In one study, drawing before writing helped students formulate ideas and led to better quality of writing and storytelling. Researchers also found a correlation between visual arts training and awareness of spoken language and young readers. Did you know

035involvement with the arts improves test scores? In one study of fourth grade students in four Ohio elementary schools, researchers found that students participating in an arts richch curriculum performed better on proficiency tests in math, science, and social studies than students with less access to the arts. Did you know engagement in the arts throughout their education increases academic achievement of teenagers from low-income backgrounds? Teenagers from low-income backgrounds who have a high level of engagement with the arts are more likely to complete high school, have a higher GPA, and attend college at higher rates than their peers with low arts engagement. Did you know that Evergreen won't have a visual arts program next year because of the budget? Did you know that the district's current curriculum leaves little to no room for arts integration? Did you know

036that next year the students at Evergreen won't get all these benefits that the visual arts provides? We've been told and asked to make sure that students, no matter which elementary school they go to, have similar educational experiences, but that isn't and won't be happening while the students at one school do not have access to all the same specialists as the students at another school. Did you know that the most well-attended family engagement night Evergreen had this year was STEM steam night? There's three more minutes from a donation earlier. I think we've used those. There were two that were donated and we do still have five pages of names to get through. I appreciate hearing and there's two paragraphs. Do you have a couple? I will let you finish that. But banking on the other people

037that have already donated time, we need to understand that has been taken. I completely understand. She had a moment earlier. So I think respectfully for you guys to do this that would be wonderful. Over 60% of our students and their families came and explored over 15 hands-on stations based in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. We had five outside organizations offering experiences to our families that they might otherwise not experience, including the Burke Museum, Olympic National Park, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, PEI, and Wolf Haven brought in by aid Villa Lobos a day. A day I'm so sorry. Our students need more experiences like this. As both a teacher and a parent of students in Shelton schools, I'd encourage the district to put more value on their existing arts program and even seek

038to grow them. Did you know that jobs related to the arts have seen rapid growth in America in the last few years? In 2022, the arts economy grew faster than the overall United States economy. The arts and cultural sector saw an increase of 6.4% in employment. If we want our students to become successful, creative, and adaptable adults, we need more, not less, arts in our schools. [Applause] Amy Devon. Hi. So, uh, my name's Amy Devon. I am a science teacher. Oh, I should know how to do this. I'm a science teacher at SHS. Um, did you know that this year I had the opportunity to teach a college and high school biology course through which my sophomore students had the opportunity to earn college credit through Central Washington? Did you also know um that in

039my department, one teacher's contract was non-renewed for the school year due to the budget and three teachers from my department chose not to come back because of the culture and climate within my building. Um, despite this, we are still going to strive and to support our students. We know we're going to have larger class sizes. We know next year is going to be tough, but we're still going to provide a positive and engaging classroom experience for our kids next year. Um, did you know that in our science classes, we provide a variety of engaging hands-on labs? But also, did you know that in the past few weeks, we've had limited to no paper towels in our classroom? This has been an issue. I think they're getting prioritized in other places because they need to be

040and that's okay. Despite this, we're still going to do what we need to do um to make these labs happen. Did you know that I'm also actively involved in my school's theater program and have done choreography for our last four musicals? Um did you know that for this coming school year, we're also preparing to have no financial support for our program? Um but despite that, our students are thinking of creative ways uh to raise money and continue to grow a program despite the potential loss of funds. Um all of these things that I've mentioned like they are supported by the lovey funds. I think you guys know that you guys have been sharing the information about it. The community I think has been hearing about it but it's not clear like how these monies are

041really used. So like when we talk about the levy going towards general education, yes that's teachers, yes that's support staff, but it is things like the paper towels is facilities. Facilities like if we're going to support our kids, we have to provide for like their basic needs and those needs aren't getting met and if the levy doesn't pass, we're going to lose these spaces. So my colleagues, me, I know this community wants the best for our students. We want the net lovey to pass. We need the lovey to pass. It funds these programs like our arts, like our drama, like our sports. If the lovey doesn't fund, like it's it's going to be rough. It's going to be pay to play. It's going to be hard. and our kids won't have a place where they

042feel safe and seen and have what they need to thrive. Thank you. [Applause] Margaret Warren, you can see the confusion there. Good evening. My name is Margaret Warren and I'm a mathematics teacher at Shelton High School. Did you know that this year I've seen a remarkable shift in my classroom? Students who once felt defeated by math, who would shut down at the first sign of struggle, are now approaching it with curiosity, with confidence, and with a belief that they can grow. They're learning that math isn't about being perfect. It's about showing up, working through the hard parts, and sticking with it. And they're rising to that challenge day by day. Did you know that in March I was honored by my peers as teacher of the month? That I've served as department chair for two

043years and as curriculum lead for one for this district. These roles have given me the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues, support instructional leadership, and contribute to the overall success of our school. And through it all, I've seen firsthand the deep commitment our staff brings to students every single day. Did you know that even with all these positive experiences, there are moments when I felt unsure about my future in this school district? A clerical error this year made me worry about being misunderstood, about being seen not as someone committed to students and growth, but as someone out of step with the system. Did you know that I'm not the only one with these questions? I've had quiet, honest conversations with my colleagues, thoughtful educators who are who care deeply about their work, who have shared similar

044concerns but hesitated to voice them more broadly. They've asked, "Will I be seen as difficult and unmanageable? where there'll be serious consequences if I ask a question or offer a dissenting opinion. These aren't isolated comments. They reflect a deeper need for trust, communication, and psychological safety within our school district. Did you know that some of our strongest educators, people who raised important concerns and sought solutions, won't be returning next year? I won't go into all the reasons as to why at this time, but their departures have left a noticeable gap and a sense of unease for many of us who remain. I've also seen conversations conversations with real promise cut short or quietly dropped. Not because they lacked merit, but because people didn't feel entirely free to speak. Did you know that trust isn't just

045helpful in schools? It's essential. Trust between teachers and students. Trust between staff and leadership. Trust that our voices matter and that raising a concern is part of building something better, not challenging authority. Without that trust, it becomes harder to give our best, harder to stay fully engaged, and harder to grow together. Did you know that I still deeply believe in this school district? We have so much to be proud of. Dedicated educators, resilient students, and a community that really cares about our schools. And I truly truly believe we all want the same thing. Safe, thriving classrooms where students are at the center and educators are respected, supported, and heard. Did you know that in this season of budget decisions and levy planning, we have a powerful opportunity? Yes, to invest in our programs and priorities,

046but also to invest in our culture. Let's build a district where collaboration is the norm, where questions are welcomed, and where different perspectives aren't feared, but valued as essential to shared success. Thank you for your time and your continued commitment. Nick Lawson, [Music] Elizabeth Johnston, is Lawson going to Margaret? I don't know. Did you say Johnson or Lawson? So, I had said Nick Lawson and he said he was donating his time, but I didn't know if he's donating it to her or just in general. Did you still have to Okay, thank you so much. Good evening. Um, I'm write I'm reading this as a statement on behalf of a fellow educator who is unable to speak tonight. Did you know that next year we only have three counselors for over 1,500 students at Shelton High

047School? That's more than 500 students per counselor. Did you know that we have lost multiple students past and present this year to suicide? That many others are dealing with homelessness, food insecurity, and serious mental health needs. Our counselors are already stretched thin and now they're being asked to do even more with even less support. Did you know that instead of replacing the counselor who's leaving, we're hiring a new building manager? I have to ask, why are we adding supervision instead of preserving student support? Who will help the next student in crisis? Teachers care deeply. We support our students however we can, but we're not trained counselors, and we cannot meet these needs alone. Did you know that student mental health is not a side issue? It's central to everything that we do. And when we

048lose frontline staff like counselors, students don't just lose services, they lose access, they lose safety, they lose trust. I urge you to reconsider this decision because if we're serious about student wellness, we need to show it in how we staff our schools. I have an additional statement from additional staff member who is unable to speak. Good evening and thank you for hearing my statement. I've been a teacher at Shelton High School for a few years and I would like you to know that it has been the most challenging and rewarding job of my life. I cherish working with the students and their parents to help them learn a new skill that can remain with them for life. Learning such skills and teaching it is never easy. But the commitment I have seen from so many

049students makes all the effort worthwhile. Several weeks ago, I was told my position would be discontinued because of budget concerns and declining enrollment. In short, I've been laid off. The same layoff has happened for other teachers as well. But recently, we we have received information that leads me to believe the reasons given for my layoff are not true. That is why I'm here this evening in support of all teachers. This includes those who who have retained their jobs for the next academic year. As professionals who have committed their time and money to teaching in this district, we deserve honesty about our jobs. We have earned the right to make this request. We do so on behalf of the most important people, the students. The details of my case would take too long to mention this

050evening, but I believe the details of my case and those of the others will be brought forward to you eventually. My hope is that the board will review these details. We are simply asking for honesty and fairness. Again, teaching at Shelton has been the most rewarding time of my professional life. On behalf of the most important individuals involved, the students, I ask that you take time to learn the truth about what is happening. I believe you share my commitment for creating the best learning environment possible in Shelton schools. Thank you again for your time. Elizabeth Johnston. My name is Elizabeth Johnston and I am an English teacher currently at OBJ. Did you know that my first teaching position was here in Shelton schools? I applied to this program and a former principal at Shelton schools

051told me, "Oh, go teach there. It'll be a trial by fire. If you can teach there, you can teach anywhere." And I never left. This is my home, my community. For the past 21 years, I have served the school district as a secondary ELA teacher, contributing to curriculum development and leadership, participating in building district, and state committees and programs. I have never been a clock puncher or a bare minimum person. I've always pursued all available relevant professional development, including opportunities outside the district. I have been supportive of our district initiatives, including the recent changes in our ELA programs by helping to revise and create lessons for the current eighth grade curriculum. Did you know my placement next year is in an art classroom? We have an open ELA position and a art teacher without a

052job. I will give 100% to my kids. While I am technically certified, this is entirely outside of my content expertise. It is unexpected. It was shocking and without reasonable explanation. With the retirement of my team teacher of 16 years, Miss Yantis, I am the most experienced English teacher in my building and I will be teaching art next year. Did you know that for the past two years I have worked with the ML teachers supporting our language learners in eighth grade? My students this year had a 21% passing last year for seventh grade. This year, 26% of them passed, which achieved our 5% improvement goal from our SIP. We also had one student who increased from a two to a four this year, an ML student. Not counted in that are the 15 students who went

053from a one to a two and the overall scale score of over 60% of my students. Over the last 18 years, I have taught on average a third of the students coming through our seventh and eighth grade, many of whom now are teachers, substitutes, and professional staff in our schools. Thank you for listening. I donate the rest of my time. Sharon Ericson. Okay. Thank you, Chris Howell. I'll take it. Oh, I'm reading this on behalf of someone here that or someone that couldn't be here today. I joined this district years ago. I've had a handful of principles and many colleagues. This is a place I love and thought that I would always stay. Did you know that teachers chose not to fill out the district climate survey for fear of retaliation for being honest? You've

054heard that from me before. The questions asked on this district survey didn't address the issues we are facing with the culture of the Shelton School District. School board, I'm calling on you to please ask for and seek out the full results of the climate survey sent out by SEA. I gave it to you. Teachers felt safe to answer when the survey came from our union rather than the district. This place has been and can be a place teachers want to be. We are a community. We love this town. Help our district get back to the quality culture it once was, where teachers and staff feel valued and empowered. [Applause] Chris Howell. Hello, I'm Chris Howell. Did you know there's a human services pathway at Shelton High School that prepares students for professions in education and

055many other fields? This path pathway is for all students who want to go into human services professions. They want to help people and we have many of those types of students at Shelton High School. Students in this pathway can take the PAR educator test for free. So they can apply for jobs as soon as they turn 18 and graduate. They can also earn up to 20 free college credits in this pathway. They are able to complete internships in their chosen field, many of them in our elementary school classrooms. There is one problem though. These highly popular classes were left off the registration forms for the last two years. Classes in this pathway have been drastically affected and so have our students. In 2022, child development had 70 students. This year there were only 11. Careers

056and education, which is the capstone class for this pathway, went from 23 students in 2022 to just five students this year. You can see in these pictures of the 2022 class and the 2025 class just what this looks like. Many attempts were ignored to have the registration mishap corrected in order to save this critical pathway. Counselors tried to identify which students should be in the classes, but it wasn't enough. Students begged to be in the classes. Parents begged for their students to be in the classes. If we are a student-driven school, shouldn't we make all classes equally accessible? Shouldn't we highlight and support all pathways? We are an education institution after all and the program that grows our replacements was not supported and has now died. There will be no careers in education class next

057year. Thank you for listening. Ken Beckman. Thank you. I'm reading on behalf of two teachers that couldn't be here today but wanted to speak. I am not only a teacher but a parent in this district and I'm so grateful that my child of my child's teachers. Sadly, so many of our amazing teachers are considering employment elsewhere because of the culture that has been created in the last four years. To the amazing teachers in the trenches, thank you for being a shining light for our children, even when you're unsupported, disempowered, and defeated. This is from another teacher. Did you know that every student enters our classrooms at wildly different academic levels with different background knowledge, different languages, and different experiences? The current district directive is rigidly following the district creative literacy plans. This has created so

058much pressure that the teachers are terrified to adapt and adjust to their students needs even though they know it's not best for their students. It is our responsibility as teachers to differentiate our instruction to support our students and give them what they need to be successful. And I hope the district chooses to empower their teachers to do so because that's what our teachers and most important our students need. Thank you. I'm donating my time. Robin Clary. Good evening board and to my name is Robin Clary. Today I stand here in front of you wearing my SEA secondary VP hat with pride to work along with so many peers and colleagues. They inspire me to be a better educator every day. These educators are amazing and I hope that you all get to experience different classrooms

059because I do on my planning period when I can. They share their talents and their skills in all areas. It's not just teachers. It's our paras. It's our cafeteria staff. It's our maintenance. Um our secretaries. Gosh, I learn so much more from them every day. Um and I think if I missed any groups, I'm I apologize, but I do learn from everybody on campus um in all different schools. Did you know I'm also proud to be a special education teacher in our district? Over the last four years, I have had a 100% graduation rate with the intensive behavior students that I work with at SHS. All of these students have found success as young adults in our community. All have kept contact through the years. They have shared with me their first real jobs, their

060first apartments, their first car payments, which some of them, by the way, are super excited about that. Like they got a job and they got a payment debt. Yay. Um, some of them have shared when they've gotten married. I just got a first picture of some kids that met in my class. We made friendships and I got to see a sonogram of their first baby. That was two months ago. Like amazing. Mostly they share with me the everyday experience, the little things we take for granted that they don't in their own words and I've heard it in many different ways. They tell me thank you for not giving up on them when others do. or at least that's how they feel is that people have given up on them. But did you know that I

061was told this year I was not an impactful teacher to this group of students I will no longer be working with them through managerial rights and be moved to a different position. But do you know despite how hurtful those words are, I know that they're not true. And I show up every day. I give them my very best because I'm not giving up on them. I'm not here for adults. I'm here for students. Thank you. Evan Jackson. Um, my name is Evan Jackson and I am uh I'm a lot of things at Shelton High School. I am also the grievance chair and you guys know me pretty well now. Did you know in five years I've only had the same teaching schedule twice? Every other year I've taught a new subject, a new class. I've

062been asked to rebuild new preps, new curriculum from scratch, new systems. I've done it without complaint. Because at the end of the day, it's why I'm here. Did you know that that constant pressure paired with a culture where saying no feels very unsafe? has worn me thin. I've said yes to things because I didn't feel like I had a choice. And I've had so many private conversations with others who feel the same, who are tired and anxious and afraid to speak up. And what I've realized is that it's it's not just me. It's a pattern. Did you know? You've heard it from others already and you're going to keep hearing it. More voices are rising and they're not going to stop. And this is not just because of the riff. As for me, I am

063stepping away for a year to reclaim my energy, my boundaries, and my peace. But even now, even worn thin, I still show up for my kids. And I'm helping them pass, and I'm supporting them to the very end because that's what they deserve. Russell Clark. Clark. Good evening. My name is Dr. Russell Clark. I'm the librarian at Shelton High School. I had a student today ask if I would read this letter to all teachers by Lyn Lorenza Linda Lucas Pedro. There are many types of teachers. There's the funny type of teachers, the old school teachers who are always seem to be grouchy, and the teachers who we sometimes hate. However, no matter what kind of teacher they are, no matter how many years they've taught, they have helped each one of us in some way.

064Teachers only want the best for us and to succeed in everything. We want for them to see us walking upon the stage to get our diploma. I just want to say thank you to two teachers I had this year in particular Miss Matulich and Mr. McCormick. Two in particular who will not be returning next year. Both teachers made school fun and helped me be motivated to come to school every day. They made English and science subjects I actually liked for the first time in my life because they knew how to teach it in a way that made it understandable. They made school fun, motivating me to get up in the morning and go to class. I know that won't change a thing, but it is important for me to tell my teachers and to remind

065the other teachers not returning who will have taught us amazing things that they are always fun to be around. And they are really good teachers and really good at what they do. They have been there for so many students and it pains me to think that they won't be here next year and I want them to know that we won't take their work for granted. I know that they are leaving and I know what they have done for each student will stay and will never be forgotten. Thank you from Linda Lucas Pedro. I donate the remainder of my time. Joanne Matulich. Hi, my name is Joanna Matulich and I'm an English teacher at Shelton High School or at least I will be for the next few days. Um, I was asked to come back um

066after taking a year off to be taking care of family matters. I was asked by HR to come back because they needed me and I did despite me renewing my entire rent lease again. I ponyied up the $7,000 it took to move back up here and did that and said goodbye to my family and said I have to go back and I don't regret it. But that said I feel like I'm abandoning my students yet again because I will not be coming back next year. I was also the assistant coach for the SH robotics team and it we overcame so many obstacles. I didn't even know where to begin. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. But despite it all, we had no parts delivered because we couldn't order them because the district never

067paid their bills. So we took scrap metal and created what should have been delivered and went to competition and did phenomenal. And nowhere in that time did any of the students 7th grade to 12th grade say I want to go home. Let's give up. This isn't worth it. Never. denied many times. Oh, absolutely. But the students never did. And it's because of their teachers, their families, and you all because those kids, those of resilient people, resilience is one of the three core factors that I was taught when I first came here in 2022. That was one of the three Rs. and it really shows in them and they are the best teachers that I've ever had, your kids. So, thank you for doing a wonderful job teachers and community because it shows and I hope

068and pray that those kids will take the lessons that are taught here and what they seen over the past months and actually learn from them and be better than what they've seen and what they've experienced because they are the ones that gave us support and they are the ones that we should learn from and will learn from and they will do Thank you all for your time. Emily Elliot. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Emily Elliot. I come here toi come to you tonight not just as an educator but as someone who deeply cares about this district, this community and most of all our students. I was born and raised here in Shelton and truly care about this community so much that I decided to come back and make a difference in

069my in students lives. My parents are also educators here in Shelton and my dad after 35 years ha is no longer have a job here. I want to start by saying I love what I do. I love the students I serve and I'm proud of the relationshipships I've built with families and colleagues over the last 5 years of working here. But what I and many others are struggling with is the growing disconnect between the district's leadership we face as educators every day. There is a culture forming, one that's making it difficult for people to speak up without fear. It's not just about being unheard. It's about being feeling afraid to voice concerns, offer feedback, or even ask questions. And when educators feel silenced, discouraged, or un undervalued, it doesn't just affect morale, it affects retention,

070performance, and ultimately our students. This district has so much potential. We have talented, passionate teachers who want nothing more than to stay, grow, and make a difference here. But when decisions are made without transparency, when communication feels top down and dismissive, and when the tone from leadership creates fear instead of trust, people start to question whether this is a place they can thrive. We need a culture shift. One where teachers are not just seen as employees but as partners. Where feedback is welcome not punished. Where difficult conversations can happen without retaliation. And where and where the commitment we show to this community is matched by support and respect from those leading it. Please hear this not as criticism but as a plea for change. We are not here to fight against you. We are asking

071you to we are asking you to stand with us to work with us and to help rebuild a culture where educators educators feel valued, respected, and safe to speak their truth. Because when teachers feel like they belong, when we're supported and heard, everyone in the district benefits, especially our students. Thank you, [Applause] Trish McCoy. Hi, I'm Trish McCoy and I am a community member. I live at Island Lake. I have since 1963. Three generations of my family have gone through the Shelton School District. As a community member, it is killing me to not be able to speak up. We have teachers who have lived and worked in this district, given their heart and soul for 35 years. Ron Goodell, simply be let go and thanked for their years of service. There are many more stories

072like this. All you need to do is look at the amount of people leaving. Whether they're let go, retired early, or found other jobs this year. This has never happened to our community. People used to want to be here and they wanted to stay here. It appears the current administration has encouraged the school board to not communicate with staff. So, it's obvious why they really don't know what's going on. Please come into the schools unannounced, talk to us, and see what's really going on. At one time, we were encouraged to attend all schoolboard meetings and have relationships with schoolboard members. Those times, unfortunately, are gone. Teachers, including myself, are afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation. As a teacher, we are treated as if we are imbeciles, undervalued, underappreciated. We have always had expert

073teachers in our district. But instead of using our teachers to mentor, to adjust curriculum, to use the knowledge we have of our community, we are dictated on what and how to teach. I ask you to look back at the true data from years when district and admin trusted our teachers. District has included some teachers to participate in curriculum making. But it's just a way to manipulate what they want, writing books, curriculum, etc. Financially, I do not know any teachers who ask for Seattle to come to our sweet community and make changes. No one asked for new classroom libraries as we all had our own. In fact, our adopted curriculum libraries have been removed from our classrooms. They were used for book clubs, reading times, all sorts of stuff. No one asked for a new curriculum

074to be created for us. We already have an adopted curriculum. To say, sorry, we used to mentor each other. At times when our district is short on money, every certified staff member should be teaching kids. We waste too much time on testing. Some of it taking one month per trimester when all we really need to do to guide our instruction is use dibbles which gets foundational skills and maps which is comprehension vocab etc. Both of those tests take just one day. We have employees that have removed their own children from our district so that they can learn in a safe, loving and involved environment. These kids are thriving. How many Shelton School District children and children of staff and admin have we lost this year to another school, homeschool, or some hybrid school? Has a

075district contacted these families to find out why? I'm not giving up. I believe in our teachers, our staff, and our community. Please, let's get back to educating, mentoring, and believing in our [Applause] Caitlyn Bolstead. Jane. Okay, we've got Jane Doe. I'm not sure who that is. Dr. Dan Carse or Cass. Good evening, board members, Superintendent Jesse. My name is Dr. Dan Cass and I proudly serve the Shelton School District for 21 years. I currently teach seventh and eighth graders at Oakland Bay Junior High where I have the daily privilege of working with extraordinary students. They show up with courage, curiosity, and a deep desire to understand the world despite the challenges many face. They deserve our very best. To that end, I've spent my career developing and delivering effective reading interventions to give my very

076best. years ago, Debbie Wing asked me to create a program for OBJ. That reading program was adopted in my building, then at Choice, SHS, and even in the Griffin School District. In total, my interventions have helped over 2,000 students become proficient readers, verified by validated assessments like EasyCBM and the Scholastic Reading Inventory. Yet, we've never reached more than a fraction of those in need. At the end of the 232 24 school year, nearly 300 students at OBJH tested at least two years below grade level. As far as I know, that has not changed. Reading workshop is a strong curriculum, but it is not for students who lack the foundational ability to access print. Did you know that one in three students nationwide can't read at even a basic level by high school graduation? And our

077district's numbers are higher. And yet, we've chosen not to provide any reading intervention at the secondary level to the hundreds of our students who need it most. Alarmed by this policy shift last spring, I met with Superintendent Jesse uh to voice my concerns. He listened respectfully. But we have not changed our policy. To be clear, the consequences of our inaction are profound. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, 54% of US adults read below the sixth grade level. Low literacy is linked to higher unemployment, poorer health, and increased incarceration. In fact, 85% of youth in juvenile detention struggle with reading. And the impact doesn't stop there. Adults with low literacy are more likely to live in poverty, have limited health care access, and most tragically live significantly shorter lives. A UK longitudinal study, the

078biggest one ever done, 17,000 people, found that people in low literacy communities live 20 to 26 years less life than those in high literacy areas. That's a greater risk factor than smoking. Let me be clear. Through our current inaction, we are causing generational harm to this community. But we can change course. The good news is that literacy is achievable for every kiddo. I've helped so many students go from second grade reading to reading confidently at or above grade level. We have an intervention curriculum that works. We our board needs to change your mind and teach all of our students how to read. That would be a generational good. [Applause] Ethan McCormick. [Music] [Applause] My name is Ethan McCormack. I both teach and coach at the high school. Did you know I recently won teacher of

079the month? Over the next three maybe six minutes, I hope to shed some light on some happenings at the high school that maybe are a little less apparent. Over the past three years, I've served as a basketball coach for the high school girls basketball program. This year, we won coaching staff of the league. This year, did you know we didn't have a single varsity athlete miss a game due to academic ineligibility? That's a big growth over the last few years. Did you know that this year was the most successful season we've had in over 20 years in terms of measuring wins? Did you know the year prior to the current coaching staff taking over, the program went at all three levels, varsity, JV, and C team? Did you know over the past two months I've

080been approached by multiple basketball players asking me if I'm going to continue to coach them next year? And I'm unsure how to answer due to the budget deficit and the cuts that are hitting Shelton across all of our schools. Did you know in the short time I've been at Shelton, less than four whole years, I've won the Sapling Award twice at the high school? That's basically an award for new teacher of impact. I won it once as an emergency sub. I won it once under my science certification. Did you know I would attribute any and all of that success to the people behind me wearing red shirts? The fact that I get to collaborate with them every single day and ask them questions. Those awards I have won are only a reflection of the resources

081I have at my fingertips. They have shown me time and time again. They've illustrated that teaching goes way beyond preparing lesson plans or correcting assessments. Did you know when you drop your student off at school, the individuals behind me that are responsible for facilitating and executing lesson plans to allow students the opportunity to develop cognitive skills and critical thinking and problem solving and articulation of matters that that are affecting the world around us. But that's just the start because they also foster opportunity after opportunity for your students to practice social and emotional learning skills, soft skills that are going to be needed going forward in whatever job they choose to pursue. I haven't even gotten to the fact that they're also the main party responsible for the safety and well-being of your students physically, emotionally,

082and mentally. to fulfill so many roles, to wear so many hats, so many of my colleagues work far and beyond contract time to try to offer you I know there's a Jane do. I'm going to take that. Okay. Uh to offer as much of a opportunity they can to your students. Also doesn't mention the fact there are some of the biggest cheerleaders for your kids as well. Right now, providing all that extra and above and beyond comes at a price, usually a sacrificial price to these individuals behind me. Right? Sometimes it's their money. Lots of times it's their time. Very frankly, it's their health. Sometimes it certainly is their resources. Did you know there's not been a single month this school year where I haven't dipped into my own pocket to cover some sort of

083classroom need? Did you know I'm a CTE teacher? Meaning there is Perkins funds at a state and a federal level set aside to make sure my classroom materials are up to industry standard. I've had trouble getting pencils and push pins. I have the emails to show it. See you later. Did you know it's not been uncommon to see staff bring in toilet paper and paper towels so we can run labs, use the bathroom, and then actually wipe afterwards? It's nice. Did you know Shelton School District is facing budget deficits affecting everything from classroom materials to printers and even teaching positions? Obviously, I got buried in the list, right? You've heard it. Did you know the decision to non-renew my contract was made by people and brought up to me by people that have never once

084set foot in my classroom to observe my teaching? Did you know at the end of my evaluation process this year, my evaluator looked me in the eye, shook my hand, and said, "I think the world of your teaching, and you're a natural at this." Did you know I've already shed my tears about not coming back? I'm not going to stand up here and cry. My feelings were hurt because I poured my all into this community and this job and I intimately care. Oh, I'm I'm not even close to done. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I just kind of wanted a facade. Uh it bugs me that I'm not going to come back, but that's not going to show on my face today. Just so we're all on the same page. Did you know I work in a

085building where staff is scared to speak up? In fact, I know of staff members that wanted to speak today, but were a little too nervous about their position and the fact that they're going to live in Shelton for the future and they're trying to get jobs in Shelton in the future. That's been repeated multiple times tonight. I think you guys did know that by this point, right? Did you know even as I'm up here articulating how I feel, I am also scared? And this is version eight of this talk and it is very much filtered down because I am scared to bring up all the transparent things I know. Did you know I work in a building where it seems to me you may have to justify your use of PTO. Did you know I

086have moved medical appointments? We got another three minutes. Sweet. Did you know I have moved medical appointments on more than one occasion so it over overlapped with three-day weekends so I wouldn't have to use PTO because I was intimidated to have to justify my use of it even though it's an earned privilege, a right of mine. Did you know it's already been mentioned that there's an academy at the high school that will lose all of its current teachers by choice because of the culture at the high school? Did you know I work in a building where admin may challenge you for upholding academic integrity? Things like not using your cell phone on a test. Things like due dates. Did you know I have a past colleague who's now no longer allowed to substitute at the

087high school after she covered two trimesters because she disagreed with changing a grade that the admin wanted to change when she was the teacher of record in the classroom? Did you know that that sends a loud and clear message to your entire teaching staff as well as to your community? Did you know according to Wyth and Clinton's own numbers, the state plans are kind of sets aside or in their mind pictures about $78,000 per teacher's head. And part of the problem that we're facing here and part of the deficit we're facing is due to the fact that the average Shelton teacher demands somewhere a little bit north of $90,000 a year due to more experience and more education. A great problem to have. A great problem to have. Did you know this award-winning coach and

088teacher that's being non-renewed had a $63,000 salary this year? It's less than that 78,000. Did you know at the high school we have a new digital electronic call pass system? Cost a little bit of money. Did you know that that system was funded by ASB dollars? A type of dollar that is usually traditionally set aside for student activities, dances, pep assemblies, was spent on a bathroom all pass system. Did you know even though I'm not going to be a teacher or an educator in this district next year, I still want the levy to pass? In fact, I think it's vital for student success for the levy to pass. And I believe the community can pass this vote. But I'm a little bit worried as I sit up here and listen to speaker after speaker, as

089I tune into YouTube week after week, and I hear a history of frustrated and fed up community members pleading with the school board to make some changes. And it seems as if their pleas are falling upon deaf ears, as I've seen repeat sharers over and over talking about the same problem from months ago. And with leadership that doesn't have a vested interest in the community, leadership that is figuratively and geographically distant from Mason County, its members, and their values, passing that levy is going to become more challenging. Thank you. We You have our job because I believe student success depends on Thank you. a lot. We have a lot and we're going to have to sit here and listen to it. We can start. Nick Sanders. Hello. Hello, my name is Nick Sanders and I'm

090speaking today to you today as a music teacher, not as the union president. The students in Shelton deserve electives and musical offerings that support their education and build lifelong skills. Did you know that students who join a performing musical ensemble learn teamwork, build confidence, have increased motivation, improved social skills, greater self-discipline, increased hand eye coordination, increased cognitive skills including concentration, develop leadership skills, boost their mental health and self-esteem. Musical ensembles teach responsibility and perseverance, increase school pride, and students will gain those ever important listening skills. This shows that we should be increasing our musical ensemble offerings, not reducing them. As we prepare for next school year, the high school will only be offering one choir class for one trimester. Just one trimester. Every other high school in the state offers choir for the entire year.

091There are regional and state coral events that take place year round. Our students deserve to be able to participate in those, too. This would be like changing the football season to just two weeks with one game at the end of those two weeks. Paul Nakala was our previous choir director until this year when Nick Lawson was hired. Mr. Lawson was doing great, but I want to talk about Paul for a moment. He taught choir in at Shelton High School for 20 years. He created an outstanding choir program that so many students were a part of. Did you know that over the last few years, the district dismantled his program by reducing the number of choirs Paul taught? Then last year, he was moved out of teaching choir and put into teaching full-time history without his

092consent. How is this good for our students? Did you know Olympic Middle School hasn't had a choir program during the school day in the last 5 years? There was plenty of interest, but the district chose not to include it. Then students looked forward to singing in the choir when they got to the junior high, but once again, they were let down. Did you know that one year ago, we had 35 students signed up to take choir at the junior high for this current school year. More than enough students for one class, but I was told we would not be offering choir. This is like not allowing students to join the football team until 10th or 11th grade and still expecting them to w win a state championship. In that sound recording class that is slated

093to be taught at the junior high next year, that doesn't replace the skills acquired and benefits gained by performing in a musical group. Our students are being deprived of opportunities that so many kids depend on. The middle school, junior high, and high school should be offering choir year round during the school day. Thank you. Jenette, good evening. I'm reading a couple statements as others have for people who weren't comfortable to come up and do it on their own. Did you know that we have amazing things going on at our schools because we have amazing teachers? What we don't have is teacher autonomy. Even teachers with data and experience to back up their teaching are told no just what they're just told what to do. This is just one reason that teachers are applying in other

094districts. What we don't have is the right to question what we are asked to do like FMP testing at the K6 level. We know through data that it doesn't show reading level. The books that the students read are not decodable texts. They can answer using pictures. Flip a coin and the odds are the same. What we have is readers and writers workshop mimicked after Lucy Caulkins who is being sued for not following reading research. She has been let go by the teachers college. Please let our students and staff speak without retaliation. Second statement. As a teacher and a parent with children in the school district, there are few things in our schools that are amazing and some things that are deeply concerning. First of all, I am very proud to live and teach here in

095the community. Everywhere I go, I see someone I know or a student I've had in the past. There's a special connection that you get from the small town, and I love it. With that said, our community has its struggles as well, and I love that I get to be a positive influence in the generations to come. However, there are a few things I see as an educator that are concerning. There are an even astronomical amount of students who are being pushed to the next grade level despite having failed everything the previous year. This practice sets them up for continued failure and undermines the entire educational process. Teachers are completely burnt out from carrying the weight of educating students at every academic level in a single classroom. All while trying to manage constant disrespect and behavioral

096outbursts. Classrooms are becoming increasingly unmanageable due to violent and disruptive behaviors that are not only jeopardizing the safety of students and staff, but are also killing the opportunity for real learning to take place. If we are being asked to not only teach our own grade level materials, but to teach the wide range of student progress, there needs to be a change. I spend 50% of my teaching time redirecting behaviors. There needs to be a clear and enforced zero tolerance policy for violence and blatant disrespect toward teachers. Students who cannot behave appropriately must be given appropriate consequences. Period. Our numbers for writeups, referrals, and suspensions only look like they're getting better because we have stopped documenting these behaviors. And teachers are told to just deal with these behaviors in the classroom under the guise that it

097is the best practice for the student to learn when in reality these exact behaviors are making it frustratingly hard for learning to take place. I have one closing paragraph. Most important, we want the board to start truly listening to teachers who are on the front lines and know what is and isn't working. Ignoring their voices only deepens the crisis. Thank you. Heather McCabe Good evening. My my name is Nick Sanders and I'm speaking to you as the president of the Shelton Education Association, also known as the Teachers Union. Tonight you have heard from parents, teachers, and community members who all want the same thing, to be treated fairly, spoken to honestly, and assured that the students in Shelton are receiving the best education possible. Working together, the district and the union can both achieve their

098goals. The greatest of which is to provide educational opportunities that our students and families deserve. Retaining the skilled teachers we currently have in Shelton will help us obtain that goal. Many people have openly shared their experiences with you tonight. Please consider their perspectives, their struggles, and their desire to improve the education our students receive. Thank you for your time tonight. Tina Palmer. Hello. Thank you for uh having this meeting and everyone who's attending being here. I'm a substitute teacher. I've lived in Shelton with my husband for seven years and we own a home and I am also a mother of six children and all of them are mine. I also hold a master's degree in teaching from the University of Southern California and I've attended college for eight years. I am not yet a Washington

099certified teacher other than a substitute, but I recently obtained my professional teaching certificate in Florida because Florida is number one in education. It's not just a saying. It's backed up in its metrics where there is an assessment tool where teacher happiness is measured. trust in teachers decision-making processes and professional decision-making processes are a number one priority. Interestingly, Florida has got that figured out. But even being number one, they have a long, long way to go and there is still plenty of room for improvement. At any rate, I'm here to support the dual language program. But listening to everyone here, I hear a lot of themes. wanting to do best for students using best practice methods while being disrespected as professionals and also humans. Teaching students who do not who who don't know English is a

100great start. But did you know English is more than just a language? English is a culture. To teach Spanish to English speakers is also teaching a culture. Culture is a way of doing things. And most of the world is multilingual. And did I mention I also help to coordinate international exchange students to this region? So if anyone's interested in hosting, you can talk to me. The students in Shelton deserve every opportunity to learn skills to be able to compete in a global market for the future. Thank you, Lan Big Bear. Donating my time. Good evening. My name is Tina Palmer. I'm one of the occupational therapists in the district. I'm also the current bargaining chair for SEA. And I'm here tonight to read um a few statements from some of our members that weren't comfortable

101um speaking tonight. Um did you know our associated student body ASB clubs do a lot for student engagement and community involvement? Did you know that ASB funds are funds raised by students and protected by law? ASB funds are how we fund student clubs and activities. Did you know that despite having positive fund balances, the use of ASB purchase orders are not accepted in our local businesses due to reported lack of payments from the district office. When these promised funds are misallocated and unavailable for use despite having validated purchase orders, this erodess the trust between our our school district and the community at large. This type of issue may impact our community's trust and willingness to pass a levy this come this upcoming year. And we would like Shelton School District to mend their economic relationship

102with local businesses so that students and community can thrive together. I have another one. Let's see. Okay. Did you know that Shelton School District is full of dedicated and passionate educators who work hard every day to continuously improve their practice and do what's best for their students? Did you know that teacher evaluations are being wielded in a punitive manner against many of these educators, creating a culture of fear and distrust between evaluators and educators. Despite this, educators in this district are committed to this work regardless of what an evaluation might be made to say about them. And finally, did you know that one of my student growth goals was to increase student speaking skills? And through practice and creating a positive classroom culture, my classes have had 100% participation in speaking activities, seeing growth in

103resilience and skill in even our most anxietyridden students. Did you also know that I've spent 100 hundreds of dollars on school supplies including paper, pencils, highlighters, pens, post-it notes, PBS celebration supplies, and technology to name some of the items brought out of pocket. Though this was a choice I made, these were costs that represent a teacher who is not fully supported as these supplies are expected to be in the classroom yet not supplied or funded. You should know that it is a privilege and honor to teach in this community. And when frustrated students once told me that I should and when frustrated students once told me that I should teach somewhere else, I responded by saying, "I don't want to teach anywhere else. This is my community and Shelton needs me. I believe this had

104an impact on my students that even in difficult times, we can still choose to do good." Thank you. Hannah Palmer. Joe Pots. Good evening. My name is Joe Dugman Pototts. I'm a proud alumnest of Shelton High School, class of 1979. Four generations of my family, including my son, graduated and went to school here in Shelton. For more than 60 years, my family has lived in this community, coached in this community, even at Shelton High School, volunteered our time, been community um law enforcement. We've been active in our community. We've owned businesses in this community. It's my been my incredible honor the last two years to contribute my expertise in business in working with the CTE program for business and marketing. Being able to bring 45 years of business experience to these students has been remarkable

105and it's been a great honor. Did you know that two years ago when I came here, the business and marketing pathway was one of the least popular programs? This last year, it became the second most popular program at Shelton High School, just short of our amazing culinary program. Did you know that 91% of the students that are completing my programs not only are passing, but they're also involved in the dual credit? So 91% of those that passed my classes got college credits. That's incredible. Did you know that despite these achievements and the the great growth that's happened in that program, I've been notified that I have no longer have a job? That I'm non-renewed due to sudden lack of of expertise in my area and and alleged data that is not correct. Did you know

106that it cost approximately $25,000 every time we replace a teacher? 25,000. Now, I don't know how many, but I know that earlier today we found out about four replacements at the high school. It's $100,000. How many teachers have been told they're non-renewed and new teachers within days have been hired to take their place? As a community member, I'm compelled to talk about this current culture, the culture of of hostile work environment. We have a responsibility to train our students not just in academics, but in terms of honesty, respect, integrity, and trustworthiness. I asked my students, "What do you think is one of the biggest qualities of of leadership?" And they said, "Setting an example." Are we setting an example? because they're smart. They know what's going on. They see these amazing teachers that they respect

107not coming back, not by choice. When our community no longer trusts the leadership, I I fear that they will not pass a levy. If they cannot trust us with their money, they're not going to pass a levy. We need that for our students, but we can't expect them to support our financial needs. Thank you. [Applause] Tracy CS A Lobos. Uh before I get started, I would like to ask if there's interpretation and if there's not, I would like to request an additional three minutes because there are a lot of people here who need interpretation. I don't see that we have an interpreter here tonight. Okay. I would like to request three additional minutes for my translation interpretation. Go right ahead. Thank you. Good evening board members, administration, student reps, and everyone else. My name is

108Ivia Lobos. I have taught 25 years and 13 of those have been at Evergreen Elementary. When I moved to Washington, I had the choice, just like many more teachers here, to work in Olympia, Tomwater, North Thirstston, and many other places. But I, like them, chose Shelton D School District because of the community. For me, it was because of Evergreen Elementary's bilingual program. I continue to work here not just for the program but because of my colleagues certificated and classified my students and their families. Did you know that even having 11 evaluations by seven different evaluators and getting nine distinguished, of those nine distinguished, two on comprehensive, you can all of a sudden one year be placed on probation, be placed on a plan of improvement because all of a sudden you're no longer a good

109teacher. Did you know that even your evaluator who one year gives you distinguished the very next year gives you basic and the only difference was you raised a concern about your contractual rights. You raised a concern about students rights. Did you know that my first year at Evergreen Elementary there were about 10 teachers with their national board certification? I was so inspired by their expertise that I decided to get mine as well. This encouraged another colleague, Jennifer Dawson, and then another, Emlda Costa. Currently, there are three of us left with our national board certification at Evergreen. After June 13th, because of my non-renewal and because of my colleagues non-renewal and another resignation early, there will be zero teachers at Evergreen Elementary with our national board certification. And if you don't know what that is, it's

110a certification process with a very high standards that accomplished teachers can obtain voluntarily. It's very timeconuming. It costs a lot of money and it's very difficult to pass. But it is what one would call the gold standard of teaching. If you obtain your national board, you know your stuff in theory and in practice. Our TEP, our teacher evaluation tries to model that process. I bring this up because I wonder if you have noticed this trend, this pattern of highly qualified teachers, whether they're national board or firstear teachers or teachers with their master's degrees or ult or multiple endorsements, they are disappearing from our district. Why is this? I'm here to speak not just for myself, but because of other colleagues who are really afraid to come up here. They're afraid they will be the next

111one, just like Mrs. Voboos was the next one. And I don't want you to hear just one single narrative. My colleagues are hard workers. They care for their community. They work endless hours, but those endless hours are not enough to meet the rigid requirements of the district unit plans. And I'd like to also use some of the donated time. Those endless hours after the school day, Monday through Friday on Saturdays and Sundays, those are still not enough. We met our school improvement plan at Evergreen Elementary for our third grade students to meet proficient or above on ESPback. But guess what? At what cost? At what cost to that teacher's mental health and to that teacher's family? At what cost to our students? Did you know after two years of surprise walkthroughs, up to four surprise

112walkthroughs a day where admin come in with clipboards to your classroom, don't say anything to you. They just come in, walk around, sometimes look in things, write things in their clipboards, and then leave. Did you know after two years of that, some of our teachers are traumatized whenever they hear a jiggling at their door? Their anxiety rises. They think it's admin coming in for a surprise visit. And imagine that fear not just for myself but for many other colleagues. This is the stuff that they tell me. Burnout, fear, anxiety. Those are the common emotions that we have at Evergreen Elementary and it sounds like everywhere else too. This year we're losing about 12 teachers, certificated staff. Last year at Evergreen we lost about 10. next year of those who are left, how many more do

113you think will leave? Not because they want to, but because they're told that all of a sudden they're bad teachers or because of another reason. I want to thank all my colleagues, the students and families who are here, who I have met, who I have learned from, and who I have taught over the last 13 years, not just from Evergreen, but from Mountain View, Bordeaux, MS, OBJ, and the high school. You all know who you are. I know you will do what is right after I am gone and that you will continue to do what's best for your students and for yourselves in unity. Thank you. And now I would like to say that in Spanish. Evergreen Elementary in Sheltonia in Tomwater in North Thirsten Shelton School District Language and Evergreen Elementary. Alumnos. Repent. administr

114and Evergreen Elementary. Certific National Board. Jennifer Dawson in Shelton. School District Evergreen Elementary. foresing Travando. And I'd like to use more of that time that was donated in Evergreen Elementary. Yantra director. Evergreen Elementary School District Unido. Everyone, please repeat after me. Let's try it again. I say you repeat. Elbido sensas. [Applause] Tony Ooa Pearson. Good evening. My name is Tony Ooa. I teach at Oakland Bay Junior High. I want to first say that I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the best teachers that this district has. Oakland Bay Junior High, if those of you are that are listening and if it's recorded, it gets a bad rap and it's not fair because we are amazing. We have amazing educators. We have amazing maintenance. We have amazing admin. We have amazing students. And

115I encourage you to come into our building unannounced. just come see what's going on, good, bad, everything. And the main thing I want to say tonight is, did you know that we have amazing maintenance? In all the years that I've worked there, our rooms are pristine. They work so hard to make sure that when we come in in the morning, our students have a clean classroom. But did you know in the last several weeks, if not months, our floors are not getting mopped? We have a shortage of paper towels. We also have many broken windows on our building. It doesn't look like a place where students would want to be. It's not safe. It's not clean. And did you know that myself and our principal mop the floors because we are short staffed of our

116amazing maintenance. We don't have enough people to clean our building. And we have one maintenance person who donates her time. She does it for free. She works hours extra because she cares about the students. And above all, above me, above anyone else, we are there for them. And you are our school board and you should be coming to see us. You should see you represent us, our community. My door is open. My students, parents know that door is open and they can come in anytime. And again, I am fortunate to work with some of the best humans and I love this district. My kids grew up here. I wouldn't want to be any other place. Thank you. Michael Scobblelet. [Applause] Hia, Michael Scablleti, Union Washington, and also an employee of the school district. Uh, if

117I forget you or I forget a role, I apologize, but there's so many amazing things that go on here at the district. Every day, hundreds of kids come to our schools all over this district. They get there safely and they get home safely thanks to the bus drivers. They get fed nutritious and and usually pretty typically delicious meals thanks to our food service. They come into clean and safe buildings thanks to maintenance and custodial and also our school security. and they go to classrooms and activities because of our coaches, our teachers, our paras, counselors, nurses, there's others, librarians. And of course, all of this runs because of our secretaries. We also get support from many good administrators. Some of them are in this room. Some of them used to be administrators and were excellent. But

118we also do all of this and try our best despite other administrators through incompetence or lack of investment in this district or ulterior motives are not doing the best for this district. I would name names but you know tall out oftowners with large salaries. And I think the people deserve to know what's being done to their district because we say oh there is a budget problem. This district and this board doesn't have a budget problem. It has an administration problem. It has a problem with priorities. And that's being presented as it's really a shame that we can't have nice things for our kids. We can have nice things for our community and our families. We could get it a couple of ways and I'll offer solutions in a moment, but I want to offer the

119board an avenue for finding out where the problems are and also when they started. Talk to the vendors that this district does business to. Talk to the contractors, the outside contractors this business, this school does business with. Talk to the service providers. Talk to PUB and find out, hey, when did the district stop being able to pay all of its bills in full and on time? And then when were you told that by the administrators? Because we have administrators in charge of the budget, past and present. And we have their supervisors, the superintendent, past and present, who should have been keeping you in the loop on that. And it's they either didn't know or they didn't tell you. And both of those answers are unacceptable. So if you want to solve the problem, don't axe

120all of these great programs, bilingual programs, afterchool activities, teachers, and whatnot. Ask your administrators to donate some of their salaries back. If they're not living up to their competence, they aren't earning it. And if you just asked them to lower down to a hundred grand, you'd save all the money. And you can live on a h 100red grand in this community if you live in this community because we all do it. We all manage somehow you could do it, too. After all, we're a family. And speaking of family, why is it five layers of administration above me all have hired their family members? Tall out oftowners. It's a real problem. [Applause] Three more. What? Bri Rasmusson. Hi, my name is Bri Rasmmanson. I'm a school nurse, a basketball coach up at Shelton High School. Um,

121I have kids that are going to be coming up through this system. Um, and I'm up here because last month a student expressed frustrations with our district. Um, and I told him that his voice was important and that he should come to one of these meetings. Uh there was lots of factors that went into it and that resulted in him asking if I would read a letter that he wrote. Um you've heard some big frustrations tonight and you're going to be presented with some great achievements. It sounds like um I think JJ is a great example of a kid that can be celebrated and listened to and supported. He's overcome many hurdles and he's thrived as he's come up through the Shelton School District. And now that he's getting ready to launch, I know that

122he would love nothing more than to come back and serve students in the future. Uh, so for those of you that know JJ, you know that uh any editing that I did here was just to leave out about a half a dozen F-bombs. Hello parents and staff. My name is JJ Garus and I'm graduating from Shelton High School this Saturday. I wanted to thank you for taking the time to listen to this little message. I want to say how disappointed I am with the Shelton School District. I am disappointed not only because we are basically broke, but also we don't know where that money went and nobody seems to be taking an initiative to figure out where the money has gone. The fact that we're letting our staff go and leaving people without a job

123because your accountants mismanaged our money is horrible and unprofessional. Not giving your school the funion it needs to function is scary because we never even know what else is missing. The fact that we can't even get paper or ink for our printers and there seems to frequently be shortages of toilet paper and paper towels is unbelievable. Even though staff stay professional, kids notice. What you can't see today is that I am a student that utilizes the elevator to get to my classes upstairs in the A building. For the last several weeks, the elevators have not been working, and I was unable to go to my normal classroom with my regular teacher. Not only was this a huge obstacle for myself and many students with disabilities, but this also poses a safety risk. I hope that

124this message I hope that with this message, we as a community can come together and get a new superintendent. He has shown poor operation skills and him not even being able to manage his own district well is 100% not a winning strategy. That's JJ's words. I know that there was a lot of people that felt that they couldn't speak up tonight because of retaliation. Um but I also talked to people that felt that they didn't want to negatively affect any upcoming loveies. Um, and what I can only hope is that the bravery and transparency that we've seen by staff tonight can influence this administration and that you guys know that what voters need right now is communication and transparency, [Applause] Kevin Powers. donated my time. The last name on the list is Raina Wlette. She

125also donated her time. She left. Okay, then that is it for public comment at this time. [Applause] We are going to take a five minute bio break so that people can take a moment before we get into the next part of the meeting. So, first up, we've got reports and recognitions, and we have our community credit union, a check presentation from our community partners education grant, and our superintendent will explain that. Thank you. So here in the district we have a lot of partnerships and one of the um fortunate parts about being here in Mason County uh and also part of uh a number of arrangements we have like a fivecount uh partnerships is the community partners and education uh grant program which is made up of local businesses in both Mason and Grace Harbor

126counties. They support local educators with funds to enrich the students learning environment. This committee was founded in 2014. This year, the partnership is comprised of eight local businesses. Belco Forest Products, Elma Family Dentl, Green Diamond Resource Company, Hood Canal Communications, R Community Credit Union, Sierra Pacific, Simpson Door Company, and Vaughn Company. Teachers applied for this grant. Uh they submitted it to the community's partners and education program um committee and there was $5,365 awarded to the Shelton school district educators for this school year. There were 11 teachers who were grant recipients. So, um, grants fund a number of things. School assemblies, uh, goggles, swimsuits for students, salmon restoration and preservation, build a social emotional learning library, a modernization of an elementary music audio system, and and arts and theater programs. So, with that, we have Shannon

127here from RCU. And so uh have her comment up award that as well as the educators who if any of the 11 recipients are here may come up and the board also to join them for a photo op. So with that please come on up Shannon. [Applause] Let's get all the teachers in the middle here. Thank you so much. Thank you again to our community credit union for that grant and congratulations to the recipients. Next up we have recognition of retirees with Tabitha Whiting. Good evening, school board. Um, thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak about our retirees this evening. Um the two favorite parts about my job are hiring uh brand new teachers and supporting educators as they finish their journey in education. Um and so when I get to come up

128here and I get to talk about that journey, that always um fills me with pride and joy because of the work that I know those educators have done over the course of their career and also the excitement of bringing those new people in. And we've had record numbers of people applying to be here um that are really excited about the work that we're doing. And um one of the questions that I get asked often in those interviews is what um what do you love about working here? And it's one of my favorite questions because the answer really is I've I've been here for about two years now and this is my I think my 15th year in education and I've worked in two other districts and I have never worked harder than I have in

129Shelton School District. I have never um been held to such high standards and I've never been held so accountable to do great things here. Um, and I love that because I know that the work that I'm doing is providing amazing outcomes for kids in this district, in this high poverty school district. We are statistically changing the outcome for many of our kids who are going to grow up and do amazing things and um contribute to this uh community in a way that um is going to continue to grow and allow this place to prosper. And I know that the retirees here today were part of that journey and were able to contribute to that growth of those kids who ultimately really are shaping society. I think that educating is the most important job we do

130as a society. Um, and I'm grateful to be a part of that and I'm grateful for all the retirees that chose to dedicate their lives to doing the same. Thank you for doing that in Shelton School District. Our kids um, deserve the best and I'm glad that you were here to provide them with that. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you and thank you to all who came and were part of the retiree celebration earlier today as well. Next up, we have the recognition of student athletes with Scott Chamberlain. Good evening. Thank you for letting me be here today. Um, I did bring a special guest with me tonight and um, he I I didn't tell him he didn't need to sign in, so he accidentally signed in over here. But um, our new head football coach,

131Garrett Baldwin, is here with me tonight. Just wanted to introduce him to you. You want to come on up, coach? Thank you, Scott. And good to see you, board. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here, community. Thank you for for welcoming me. Uh my wife and I are very excited to close on a house later this month and move to Shelton and and immerse ourselves in this community and serve it. Um and so very thankful and very humbled and honored to be here. Thank you. Thank you, Scott. You bet. Thank you. The good news is he was already going to miss his um daughter's bedtime. So see you, coach. Okay, how do I make this work? Which button? Oh, there we go. Maybe. Okay. Okay. So, this is one of the favorite

132times of year here just to uh get a chance to recap the school year athletically um and in our activities. And so, um changing just a little bit of the things that we did and I'll have an explanation for you in just a little bit. But um in the Shelton school district, we offer 43 athletic programs, K12, and we offer 48 clubs. Um all of those things, as we've already heard just a couple times tonight, are funded by our levy dollars. And so, just wanted to um share that th those are the programs that we're offering to kids. I don't have numbers of how many participants there are in those because we don't track that that way necessarily. Um but maybe that's something that we'll start looking at. It's it's nice as we know uh

133after school or extracurricular activities are an important part of connecting kids and making um school important to them for those that maybe the actual school day is not their favorite part of the day. So, um, so since taking over K12 completely, um, this year we offered elementary athletics, third and fourth grade programs, uh, volleyball, soccer, and track and field. And just this, um, past Thursday, we we ran our Rotary track meet um, at the at the high school, and it was a great day. It was actually the only track meet that I don't think we had 100 mph winds and rain. So, um the kids had a great time. It was nice to see their smiling faces at the end receiving uh awards and ribbons. At Olympic Middle School, uh we have four sports seasons

134and they play in the Tri County League and and this is where I'll start with my explanation. Um as we started using final forms and I was new to final forms when I moved to the Shelton school district four years ago. um trying to track participants and the number of if you remember last year when I stood in front of you uh there were some dis not discrepancies there were um I was trying to explain maybe why we thought the decrease in participation at OBGH and MS was so dramatic what I found out is that the numbers in final forms weren't very accurate at that point and so I've corrected those and matter of fact even after submitting this I found a better way to get those numbers so what I did is looking at

135final forms it will now tell me in a spot how many one sport athletes how how many two sport athletes, how many three sport athletes we have at that school. And originally what we would do is a three sport athlete would be would be counted three times. So this is just actual participants or student athletes. Um so you can see that the numbers have gone down from what I've reported the last few years. Um the actual numbers, but however, we're we're staying pretty pretty consistent. So, um, here at Olympic Middle School, we had 178 participants participants this past year at Oakland Bay Junior High School where we offered five sports seasons, uh, participated in the Tri County League. Um, this year we had 201 individual or student athletes, uh, that participated. Once again, correcting those

136numbers as well. At the high school, at Shelton High School, we have three sports seasons. Uh, this year was our first year as a 3A school since I've been here. So, we participated in a 2A, 3A Evergreen conference, being the only 3A school in that conference. Um, our path to postseason was through uh the Vancouver School's GSHL down in Vancouver, which um I think I may have reported uh last year that we don't have a desire to drive that far on a Tuesday night. So, um that's the reason that that uh is set up that direction. But, as you can see, um our participation numbers have continued to increase, decreased by one over one year. That's probably some type of an error somewhere. But starting back in 2122 up till till now we've increased by

137130 kids or so. So that is a positive thing for um Shelton High School. Um earlier you had a public comment that that mentioned that um usually we bring athletes to this and uh and and celebrate those athletes. I I dropped the ball on that and did not invite any athletes until this morning. Um, I did I did invite our uh girls wrestling team. That was the team that um this was our first year of having a dual championship in the Evergreen League. I've been in that league as an athletic director for 20 years. Um and so this was the first year that we actually had separate girls wrestling duels rather than boys and girls wrestling duels at the same time. Our girls team went undefeated and were the evergreen conference champions. And then they

138they walked on and were also 14th place at the 3AWIA state tournament. And then as a team GPA, uh they placed seventh place in the Scholastic Awards as a wrestling team. Team Scholastic Awards. This is something that we submit at the end of each season for the varsity teams. Um, we had four teams this year that uh earned an outstanding team award, which is a 3.5 to 4.0 GPA. Um, you can see them up there. Boys tennis, girls swim, boys cross country, and girls cross country. Uh, distinguished team awards are GPA of 3.0 to 3.49. Um, these are previous semester GPA, so not a cumulative that we get that mixed up every once in a while. Um, so we pull the grades of their previous uh trimester um to determine their uh team GPA. So

139we had 13 teams uh earn distinguished team award. Um girls soccer, boys golf, volleyball, boys swim, girls wrestling, the team I just mentioned that placed seventh as a team. The dance team, the cheer team, the baseball team, girls golf, fast pitch, girls tennis, boys track, and girls track. I contributed this to two things. Our student athletes working hard, maybe three things. Our coaches hounding them about their grades weekly and us running weekly grade checks uh just to know that we are checking up on them and that we do care. Scholastic Cup is something that the WIA tracks and uh we've been I've been reporting this since I since I've come here. Um moving to 3A didn't farewell for us this year. Uh we did earn 50 points and once again it's the our girls wrestling

140team with 14th as an activity. That's their place at the state tournament and then seventh as their scholastic placing giving us 50 points placing us 67th in um the 3A classification. That is a number that we will make a goal to improve on. This year we had uh multiple kids that were um able to participate um at the state tournament. Um so these are our state tournament participants. I had a number written down somewhere. Forgot I even had my notes here. Um we had 23 individuals that participated in state tournaments. There's not 23 individuals up there, I don't believe. Um but you can see in cross country we had Trace Bartholomew. In bowling, we had Olivia Hote and Lynn Orinson. Girls wrestling, we had Liv Raspersonson, Sophia Todd, Ellie Best Cervantes, Crystal Nielsen, uh Cyan

141Mobley, Madison Fatiger, and uh Gilliam TD is how I'm going to say that just so I don't mess it up. Uh boys wrestling, we had William Lacy, Aiden Dodge, Richie Lingal, Isaiah Ives, Fineian Ball, Mark Sanchez, and Dwayne Nunees Lopez. And the rest of those um the rest of the uh state participants are state placers. We had six state placers this year. Uh Towan Benedict placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke and sixth in the 100 fly and boy swimming. In girls wrestling, we had Amaya Carerion at fourth at the 100 pounds. Adele Anderson third at 120 lbs and Aurora Marcy seventh at 235 pounds. And then boys wrestling, we had Gold Bordon, Cole Bordon, sorry, uh, placed third place at 132 pounds. And Hunter Leth placed fourth at 175 pounds. [Applause] And then these two

142individuals here, we had two powerlifting state championships champions this year. Uh, we did invite uh them to this meeting. However, uh Miranda was given a speech for the move up ceremony at Southside Elementary. Um and then I don't know what Yenni ended up doing, but um uh she wasn't able to come. So, Miranda Solano, I think that's supposed to be Martinez. I I apologize. Um she was the powerlifting state championship 220 pound division. Um and she was also third overall in the state for girls powerlifting. the little chart over in the top you over to the right you see top 10 women's totals and she's the third person there at a total of 840 pounds. She also set the um bench state bench record at 170 lbs at this meet. And then oh yes and

143then Yenni Mendoza Pablo uh she was the state champion in the unlimited division. Uh she was also the overall champion of the whole meet lifting a total of 1,60 pounds. She set all four records at this meet. Um those are she set the squat uh record at 430 lb, the bench record at 200 lb, and the deadlift record at 430 lb in the unlimited division. And then she set the new state overall record with a total of 1,60 pounds. So Yenni did one heck of a job as did Miranda. And then this year at our uh senior uh awards night, we recognized our female and male athletes of the year. Um this year our female athlete of the year was Aurora Marcy and our male athlete of the year was Hunter Leth. [Applause] Any questions

144for me? No questions. Just congratulations on all of the athletes and the programs that we have that they're able to participate in. We really appreciate the report. Thank you. And I promise next year I will fill all these chairs for you. All right. Great. Thank you. All right, the consent agenda is up next. It has our typical grants, warrants, minutes. Is there a motion? Motion to approve this evening's consent agenda. I'll second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor say I. I. I. All right. The consent agenda has passed. Going on to discussion and action items. 7.01 01 is the proposed resolution number 25-07 delegating authority to the WIAA for the 202526 school year and Scott I think you are recommending approval or do you have something to

145talk to us about? I know this is a usual thing at this Yeah. This is just our annual membership renewal for the WIAA and our labor and industries costs for officials um that we need to get done in the month of June for the upcoming school year. All right. Thank you for the explanation. Um it has been recommended for approval. Is there a motion? A motion to approve proposed resolution number 25-07 delegating authority to the WIAA for the 2526 school year. I'll second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the proposed resolution. All those in favor say I. I. I. The resolution has passed. 7.02 02 is the proposed revised policy number 3242 for closed campus and Chelsea Brady will give us the first reading of this. Good evening members of the board. Superintendent Jesse.

146Um I am here on a policy update for 3242 closed campus. This is a brief policy. Um and the update is really to bring it more current to what we are actually doing. This has been a policy that we paused on while we got some systems and structures in place um so that we were really ready to move this forward in our schools. Um over the last several years, our buildings have done a great job as you heard tonight, security, administration, teachers really re-engaging students back onto campus where they want to be in classrooms um and engaged in that instruction. uh we've brought students back from the huff and puff um and onto campus and now we're ready to uh get a policy in place that better reflects what we feel like our our students

147can um students and families would be able to um manage as well as our schools. So moving forward, what we would be uh changing to is that K10 would remain the same where K uh kinder through 10th would remain on school grounds uh from arrival until close unless excused and then our 11th and 12th graders. Um that would be determined by individual schools. So our high schools would be working on their individual plans and that would be in process if this uh moves forward. Do you have any questions for Chelsea at this time? Yeah, just real quick. Um, what kind of prompted this change? I know you shared a little bit of getting things in order, but what's the big need, I guess, to make the change? Well, truly it says that all students remain

148on school grounds and right now that's not the case. some of our older students that leave campus for running start or some of the other things that they leave for. We just know that this isn't currently what's happening and we wanted it to better reflect, you know, what's happening in schools. So, thanks. That's that's what I assumed, but I appreciate that. I don't think there's any other questions, but we know that we all have the policy to read through and we can submit any questions before we go into the second reading and and vote for the next time. So, okay. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right. 7.03 is proposed items to declare surplus and Clinton Sherman will talk us through this. Yeah, we have a couple more uh good evening board and Jesse.

149Uh we have a couple of uh additional items to declare surplus. Now, we're trying to move quickly and try to think creatively. We'll bring a much larger list again for the summer surplus sale uh next month, but we had some two larger items that we wanted to move on as quickly as possible. And so that's what's in front of you tonight. Do you have any questions or is there a motion on this? I motion to approve the proposed items to declare surplus. I'll second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the items to declare surplus. All those in favor say I. I. I I All right, the motion has passed. Thank you. Item number eight is a legislative update. Do we have a any more legislative updates at this time? No more legislative updates. Um,

150you know, the same there was no um MSOC funding funding this year for materials, supplies, and operating costs. And I heard a lot of very passionate individuals this evening. And I'd love if you would all come back during the legislative session next year and bring that passion to the legislators and and tell your stories and and how we need that funding to close gaps in our schools. So, thank you. So, at this time for future agenda settings, do we need to take the legislative update off since we are now out of the legislative session? Yes. Okay, that would be great. All right, that leaves us with board member comments and I'm going to start down at the end. Director Dale, I get to go first. Okay. Um, let's start with some really great things. Um,

151I got to go to Cedar and Choic's graduation these this last week. It's my first time getting to sit there and it is a reminder of all of the good things happening in our district to see the teachers that did so much work. Of course, the students did work, but to get students to that finish line and then launch them off was deeply encouraging. So, if you didn't get a chance to attend, I just want to report it was fantastic. And well done community. Both of those smaller graduations filled that performing arts center. So, well done showing up and supporting all of that. That was a beautiful thing. Um, congratulations to all of the grads that will be graduating on Saturday. I know we're going to fill up a larger place. Lots of people graduating.

152That's exciting as well. Um, that was a lot to process tonight and so I'm going to reserve most of my comments for later, but I just want to say I want to appreciate they're almost all gone. Every teacher that got up there and spoke and shared and was passionate. Um, we I believe that you are here to educate these students and and that was uh very important for us to hear. Appreciate all of that and that bravery. you can see it sometimes in the emotions that come through. So, thank you to our community for getting up there tonight. Um, I second that. Uh, t takes a lot to get up here and speak. In the past, we've heard similar things. So, we hired a private contractor to do an anonymous employee satisfaction survey. Only 25%

153participation. So that was our way of trying to resolve this the situation but with only 25% participation I don't know what we can do. Yes. Thank you this evening for everybody that came out and um just know that uh you can reach out at our emails and come up to us and and engage us in conversation. We would like to to hear your voice and and and what you want us to hear. Um I'd also like to thank everybody for the privilege of attending the graduations. It's always my favorite time of school year. Um I love all the excited energy of all the families as we've been growing these kids into the the great successes that we get to celebrate this week. Um they just Thank you. I was able to attend the Cedar graduation

154as well. So congratulation to Cedar's graduates. Unfortunately, I was not able to go to the choice graduation, but um I was able to watch it online. So, I do appreciate how these things get streamed for people that are not able to attend and you can go back and watch it because there's a lot of great things to see and lots to celebrate with the students that walked through. I'm very excited for Shelton High School's upcoming graduation this Saturday because that'll close it out for all of the graduations here in the Shelton School District and that's always an exciting time. So, I am very much looking forward to attending that. And for all of the students that are still left in school because I know our seniors are off campus now. Um, good luck with your

155finals in the next couple of days because they do still have that going on and then um, everybody gets a break this summer, which I think probably a lot of people are looking forward to. Um, I do appreciate the comments tonight that happened and the length of time that it took is not a problem. I think it was really important to hear these voices and to hear the stories behind that. Um, as somebody who's been on the school board for 10 years, uh, you definitely have I have heard you and there is a lot to think about and I wrote a lot of different things down and I think that it's a continuous process between the school board and the school district and the administration and our community to work together to make this the

156best education possible for our community, for our students. That's the number one thing. And so we have a lot to work on as a school board. And I really want to work on this with the other components of that with the teachers, with the staff, with our community, with this uh school administration. Um we have a lot to think about and we will be doing that. But thank you very much for taking the time to come here tonight and be heard. We do have executive session tonight. Um, we've got two items on that that will not have any action behind them. So, I'm not totally sure how much time we will have to come out of that to adjourn, but there won't be any action taken. So, do we anticipate a half an hour 45

157minutes for both of these? We are going to anticipate an hour. So um we will be going into executive session probably in the next 5 minutes and we will come out after an hour.