[0:10] Welcome to today's Belleview School
District regular board meeting on
[0:14] September 17th, 2026. It is 4:33 p.m.
Thank you. We'll start with roll call.
[0:20] Phil Block,
>> Carolyn Watson, Tracy Mlin,
[0:23] » Eugene Koli,
>> Jay Norris,
[0:25] » Kelly Aramaki.
[0:29] Next is the land acknowledgement. We
acknowledge that we are on the
[0:33] indigenous lands of the coast Salish
including the Dwamish, Muckleshoot and
[0:37] Snowwami peoples. We thank these
caretakers of this land who have lived
[0:41] and continue to live here since time at
memorial. We reflect on the historic
[0:46] context that brings us to reside on this
land and accept responsibility to
[0:51] interrupt eraser. We are committed to
our ongoing partnership with the
[0:55] Snowqualami tribe as we listen to, learn
from, and lead with their guidance.
[1:03] Now, we have the uh introduction of the
student. Dr.
[1:06] » Good afternoon. And we have with us this
afternoon Alex Kazada Enriquez who's a
[1:11] student at Samameish High School and
he's going to be accompanied and
[1:14] introduced by his teacher McKenna Rojas
[1:21] and his sister or anybody else that
wants to come up.
[1:37] Hi there. I'm McKenna. I'm one of Alex's
teachers. I'm so excited that he's
[1:42] giving a speech tonight. He's so
passionate about public speaking and
[1:45] he's going to do such a good job.
>> Okay, we'll start with the pledge.
[1:54] » I pledge of allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the
[1:58] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible and li with
[2:03] liberty and justice for all.
[2:13] Hi, my name is Alex Q and I am a junior
at Seamish High School. I have been a
[2:17] great leader since I arrived at Seamish
High School. In my CCC class, I learned
[2:22] ways to get around the community and I
went on outings with classmates that I
[2:26] was able to help get around in the
community and my peers. Last January of
[2:30] this year, I was invited to give a
speech to the incoming freshman parents.
[2:34] I felt that type of confidence that
never goes away during my speech. The
[2:38] speech changed my life and also changed
my own heart because I used to be shy
[2:42] and I thought to myself if I public
speak everyone will like my speech and
[2:46] it get and it did give me inspired not
only myself but for people who wants to
[2:50] try public speaking. I am now hoping
that when I graduate high school I can
[2:54] continue public speaking. Thank thank
you for giving me a chance to speak to
[2:58] you today. Have a wonderful day.
[3:05] Thank you so much, Alex. Appreciate your
time.
[3:20] Next is acknowledgements. So September
20th through 21st is Yam Yam Kapur. Uh
[3:27] September 21st is International Day of
Peace. September 25th is Malid Al- Nabi.
[3:34] Uh September 25th through October 2nd is
Sukkot. Uh September 30th is National
[3:40] Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding
Schools.
[3:45] The next item is the approval of the
agenda. Do I have a motion?
[3:49] » I move to approve the approval. Approve
the agenda.
[3:54] » Second.
>> All those in favor of approving the
[3:58] agenda, vote I.
>> I. I
[4:00] » I.
>> All those opposed, vote nay. The eyes
[4:02] have it. The agenda is approved.
>> Next item is the consent agenda. Do I
[4:08] have a motion?
>> I move we accept the consent agenda as
[4:11] presented.
[4:14] » Second.
>> All those in favor of approving the
[4:18] consent agenda, vote I.
>> I.
[4:20] » I.
>> I.
[4:22] » All those opposed, vote nay. The eyes
have it. The consent agenda is approved.
[4:28] The next item is the superintendent
update. Dr. Amaki.
[4:31] » All right. So many great things to talk
about today. Uh the first I'll just give
[4:36] you a minute to take in the cuteness on
the screen. Uh last week was our first
[4:41] day of preschool and kindergarten. And
these are just some photos from our
[4:45] preschool over at Clyde Hill Elementary
School. I mean, I don't think it should
[4:49] be legal to be that cute, but um uh you
could see the kids are just so happy to
[4:55] be playing uh on the new playground at
Clyde Hill. Um I I have to say there was
[5:00] a lot of crying on the first day of
preschool, mostly by the parents. Um a
[5:05] few of the kids were crying as well, but
um in in this past week, they've really
[5:09] settled in. And we have some of the most
incredible preschool and kindergarten
[5:13] teachers. I mean that that is a special
special uh passion, heart, skill set uh
[5:20] because you have to take a lot of kids
who are not used to going through the
[5:23] routines of school um and then getting
them to line up, sit down, come in from
[5:28] recess and all of that. Um and they just
uh do an incredible job. So, shout out
[5:33] to our preschool and kindergarten
teachers. And um just to the parents, um
[5:38] we're happy for you. Your kids are doing
really amazing and hopefully you're
[5:41] enjoying a little bit of newfound
freedom as well. Now that your kids are
[5:44] in school, um these kids that you see on
this screen and in all of our preks and
[5:50] K's across the district are about to
embark on an amazing journey in the
[5:54] Belby School District.
And you never know because fast forward
[5:59] a few years, those same kids might be on
the list of National Merit Scholarship F
[6:05] semi finalists. Um the 2027 uh
semi-finalists have been announced and
[6:12] uh 65 Belleview School District students
are National Merit Scholarship Program
[6:17] semi- finalists. Belle's always at the
top. We always have more than any other
[6:21] school district. Um this year is no
different, but 65 kids um is a lot.
[6:28] Washington State had 350 kids um qualify
as semi-finalists. And so Belleview, our
[6:35] 19,000 kids represent um about 2% of all
of the kids in public education in
[6:41] Washington state, but almost 20% of our
kids are uh among the 350
[6:46] semi-finalists. So um just a shout out
to our kids. That is a lot of work. It's
[6:51] a lot of studying. It's a lot of um
spending time outside of school. Um and
[6:57] so we're really proud of their
accomplishments.
[7:01] Um, I want to give a couple of updates.
Uh, the school year has started. We've
[7:06] settled in. We've had our September
count. I want to give you some updates
[7:09] on enrollment. Um, and then I'm going to
give you a little bit of updates on um,
[7:14] uh, staffing and class size as well. And
then we'll end with one last
[7:17] celebration. So, enrollment. Um, this is
an important topic. It may not be that
[7:22] interesting to most people, but school
budgets are based on how many kids you
[7:27] have. And we what we do in the school
district is we have to make an educated
[7:31] guess about how many kids we think we're
going to get in September. And we have
[7:35] to make that guess in January or
February. So without a lot of
[7:40] information, we have to guess how many
kids we're going to get and then create
[7:44] a budget based on that number. And if we
are off, like for example, if we get
[7:48] less kids than we thought, then we have
to figure out where to pull that money
[7:52] from. And so this is a very hard thing
to do. But here's the data. In the
[7:57] spring, we our best guess was that we
were going to have 18,814
[8:03] students for this current school year.
As of September 11, we have enrolled
[8:09] 18,822
students. That is just eight kids off
[8:14] and it's eight kids more than what we
expected. And so, a shout out to all the
[8:19] people who are involved in in
guesstimating that number. Um, to hit
[8:23] that number exactly like that is pretty
outstanding. um even if we had guessed
[8:28] low and we got way more kids than we
thought, that also can be challenging
[8:32] because then we're trying to like um add
teachers and things like that. So, this
[8:37] is about as good as it gets. Um that
said, and I always tell people never get
[8:42] too excited about budget news um because
the other shoe always falls. Um but we
[8:47] are we guessed about 18,814 kids. That
is 300 less than last year. So we we
[8:54] were guessing that we were going to lose
kids and sure enough we are down by
[8:59] about 253 students from the previous
year. So just like school districts
[9:04] across the region, across the state,
across the country, globally, uh people
[9:08] are having less kids and so our
enrollment is tracking a little bit down
[9:12] from the previous year. Um elementary is
down by about 212 students. High school
[9:18] is down by about 175 students. Um but
kudos to our middle schools. they are
[9:24] holding us afloat. Our middle schools
are up by about 136 kids, which is
[9:28] really remarkable because um in the
past, middle school would be uh was a
[9:33] time when people decided they would try
homeschooling or private schooling and
[9:37] then bring their kids back to high
school. But now uh people are bringing
[9:41] their kids uh to Belleview's middle
schools, which is really exciting. Uh
[9:44] kindergarten is currently about 1,095
students. Uh that's fewer than the,27
[9:51] students at the same time last year. Um
and fewer than our budgeted projection.
[9:55] We guessed we'd get about 1,180
uh kindergarteners. So it's a we have um
[10:01] not as many kids as we thought we were
going to have in kindergarten. Um but we
[10:05] do add students in September. So we're
hoping we'll get closer to that 1,180.
[10:10] Uh the bottom line, we have fewer
students than last year, uh matching the
[10:14] trend of declining enrollment across our
region, but we anticipated it, we
[10:19] budgeted for it, and we're hitting our
budgeted enrollment, and we expect to
[10:23] gain kids in September. So, all around
pretty good news for enrollment.
[10:28] Uh staffing and class size update. So,
these numbers are as of September 11th,
[10:33] and I think we have some public
commenters who are going to talk a
[10:35] little bit about class size. So, um, I'm
going to try to address a couple of
[10:39] those things, but in general, and this
is not everybody's individual
[10:44] experience, but in general, our class
sizes are better kindergarten through
[10:48] 12th grade. Um,
across the system, our K3 class size
[10:54] ratio, um, uh, which is something that
we really try to focus on, uh, decreased
[10:59] from 19.2 average to 18.4 students. So
that about one student is represents a
[11:07] lot of money. Um but an investment in
our our class sizes at the lowest
[11:12] levels. Um our highest elementary class
sizes dropped from 36 last year to 31
[11:18] this year and we only have 31 at three
different schools. So that is huge. Last
[11:25] year when we were in major um fiscal
crisis, we couldn't solve even the class
[11:31] sizes of 36. I mean, we had that at at
one school, but 36 elementary kids is a
[11:36] lot of kids. So, the fact that we have
no classes right now over 31 is pretty
[11:41] awesome. And it's only at three
different schools. Um, at the secondary
[11:47] um secondary core classes, that's math,
science, ELA, English language arts, and
[11:52] social studies. secondary core class
sizes um that are over 32 kids decreased
[11:59] from 787 classes last year to 684. So we
have 100 fewer classes that have 32 or
[12:07] more kids. That's good.
It's not amazing because still we still
[12:14] have 684 classrooms that are over 32
kids, but it's better than the year
[12:19] before. And I told my team when we were
staffing, our goal is not worse than
[12:24] last year.
Secondary core classes that are over 40
[12:28] students, and we do have some, decreased
from seven last year to two this year.
[12:34] So we, this doesn't include all of the
electives. Electives are kind of a
[12:38] different story. Band and orchestra and
things like that. some of the electives
[12:41] they we we don't have a choice but to
have more than 40 kids but in the core
[12:46] uh content areas
um classes that have more than 40 kids
[12:50] went down from seven last year to two.
So not necessarily amazing but better
[12:56] than last year um with regards to
staffing. So in addition to trying to
[13:01] guess how many kids we're going to get,
we have to then figure out where we
[13:05] think the teachers are going to be.
Where are the kids going to show up?
[13:07] Where are the teachers going to be? Um
because I would I would say we have
[13:12] precise enrollment and staffing planning
going on right now. Um we've made a lot
[13:16] of improvements. We only had to do 12
involuntary transfers this year, down
[13:21] from 44 the previous year. So
involuntary transfers are when we have
[13:25] to take a teacher from international,
for example, and send them to one of the
[13:30] other high schools or vice versa. We
think we're going to have less kids
[13:33] here. We're going to move them here. We
have to move teachers around. 12 is all
[13:37] we did compared to 44 the previous year.
And as I mentioned to the Belby Council
[13:43] PTSA, we did not have to move any
teachers after the start of the school
[13:48] year. That is really remarkable because
some years we're sending teachers from
[13:52] one elementary to the next because kids
didn't show up or more kids did show up.
[13:56] And so, um, it can be very disruptive.
Sometimes we can't help it. But I'm I'm
[14:01] very excited that we did not have to do
that. Again, the bottom line, average
[14:05] class sizes across K12 are improved from
last year. And yet, average class sizes,
[14:12] case loads for our special education
teachers and ESAs and and others, and
[14:18] individual outlier class sizes remain
higher than uh what we ideally want them
[14:23] to be. So, I just want to make sure that
that statement is out there because even
[14:26] though I'm saying class size averages
are better, that's not necessarily every
[14:31] individual teacher or kids experience.
We do have some classes that are very
[14:35] high um and we are keeping an eye on
that um and trying to address them over
[14:41] time. Uh my last statement about that is
we have to continue to advocate for
[14:45] ample funding from the state. That's the
only way that we can systematically
[14:49] lower class sizes to where we want them
to be. um we are maxing out our budget.
[14:54] This is what class sizes look like when
we max out our budget. Um if we want to
[14:58] have lower class sizes, we're going to
have to fight for it at the state level.
[15:05] And then my my last um is a major
celebration uh for my final update. I'd
[15:11] love to invite up uh the representatives
from Belleview Big Picture International
[15:16] School, Newport High School, Sam Amish
High School, Belleview High School, and
[15:20] Interlake High School. So, if you guys
would come up, Janine's going to hand
[15:23] you a plaque. We're going to have you
just kind of line up here in front of
[15:27] the ledge facing the audience. Your back
will be to the camera, but you know, um
[15:32] it'll be okay.
Uh come on up and then I'll I'll finish
[15:36] reading my statement.
[15:47] Principal Yehudi, you want to come over
here and stand right here on the edge?
[15:50] Thank you. Oh, sorry. Okay. All right.
All right. I'm just, you know, wasn't
[15:54] sure you're being shy.
Yeah. Right there. And then facing out.
[15:59] Be awesome. Great.
[16:03] Okay. Um, I'm beyond proud to again
announce that our four comprehensive
[16:07] high schools and two choice schools have
been recognized by US News and World
[16:11] Reports as among the best high schools,
not just in Washington State, but in the
[16:16] nation. Uh being one of the best in the
country is an actual designation by US
[16:21] News and World Report. So we don't just
make up that they're among the best.
[16:25] They have to tell us that they're among
the best. Um and these schools are
[16:28] recognized for the accomplishments uh in
preparing students for the future.
[16:32] Tonight we are formally presenting um
these school leaders with uh their
[16:36] official recognitions. Being one of the
best high schools in the country
[16:40] reflects the exceptional work of our
students, staff, families, and community
[16:45] partners. We are particularly proud of
these rankings because the rankings are
[16:49] not just based on test scores,
graduation rates, and rigorous
[16:53] coursework offerings. Uh but they're
also uh representing the success of
[16:58] students in our underserved groups. And
these leaders here have been working so
[17:02] hard with their staffs to make sure that
each and every student in their school
[17:06] is thriving. Um I want to express my
gratitude to our families for entrusting
[17:11] us with their children's education. I
want to thank our teachers and
[17:15] administrators, our support staff at the
schools, our district support staff, and
[17:20] our operations staff who we're going to
be celebrating later this uh meeting for
[17:24] their collective excellence and
contributions that make these awards
[17:28] possible. And of course, thank you to
our amazing students who work hard each
[17:33] and every day. Um, let's all give our
high schools a round of applause.
[17:43] All right. So, now just hang tight for
one second. We're going to have the
[17:46] board come out and take a photo and then
as soon as we're done with the photo, um
[17:50] I I'm going to dismiss our principles
because they have curriculum nights.
[17:54] There's a couple of sports games and
things like that. So, uh let's take a
[17:57] photo and then we will let them go.
[19:19] Thank you very much for that
presentation and congratulations to all
[19:23] our schools. Uh we are now moving to
item 4.2 public comment. The board
[19:28] values public input and allocates
approximately 20 minutes per meeting for
[19:31] public comments with each speaker
limited to approximately 2 minutes.
[19:35] Comments must be civil and within legal
and district boundaries. The meeting
[19:39] chair myself may end comments that
exceed time limits or violate standards
[19:42] of civility.
[clears throat]
[19:45] The board reserves the right to maintain
order but differentiates between
[19:48] unsimple remarks and critical yet
respectful commentary.
[19:53] Dr. Sanchez, can you please help me
introduce the speakers tonight?
[20:00] » Hello. There we go. Okay. Absolutely. We
have a number of speakers this evening.
[20:04] When I say your name, if you would
please approach. The microphone should
[20:07] already be on and then once you're
seated, the timer will begin. We have
[20:12] our first speaker this evening is Carol
Schmidt.
[20:25] Good afternoon. I'm Carol Schmidt. I
teach AP World and Foundations of World
[20:30] History at Belleview High. This is my
39th and final year of teaching, but I
[20:34] can't promise this is the last time I'm
coming here. I haven't asked for you
[20:38] where is the FTE being spent. The FTE
the state gives to Belleview to run its
[20:43] classrooms. The Belleview School
District and BEA negotiated an average
[20:47] class size in secondary schools shall
not exceed a district-wide average of 28
[20:51] students and overage pay a few years
ago. There was a hope that this would
[20:55] encourage some stability in our
classrooms. Instead, the stability there
[20:59] has been a steady increase in of our
class sizes. I have started a school
[21:03] year in which my smallest class is 35
and the largest is 39. I am not alone.
[21:08] I've asked social studies teachers
across Newports, Mammish, and Interlink.
[21:13] Most are seeing these sizes. Our PE
teacher wants you to know that our sixth
[21:17] period class has 47 kids and only six
tennis courts. Our custodians are
[21:21] scrambling for furniture. My largest
class also includes a student academic
[21:26] coach and a pair of educator. I can
barely move in that room and I need to
[21:30] move around because the class also
contains seven IEPs, four students with
[21:34] a 504 and eight students who are English
language learners. I mentioned overage
[21:39] pay earlier. I'm only paid up to 35
kids. Is someone counting those extra
[21:43] kids as money in the bank for the
district? What is behind the actual
[21:47] student teacher ratio right now? And
what are we not being told? We are told
[21:52] that the district is in financial
difficulty. Yet, I read district
[21:55] bulletins and new programs are still
happening. I taught German early in my
[21:58] career and I think language acquisition
is super and great. But are we doing or
[22:04] adding programs that are only going to
be unsustainable singletons in the
[22:09] future? And sitting kids in front of a
computer to learn these languages is not
[22:13] good language acquisition. A couple of
dozen students sit in our library
[22:17] connected in theory to an online
teacher. No one is really monitoring.
[22:21] Neither the librarian or the career
counselor are certified teachers. Is
[22:26] that the future for these other
programs? Pinching pennies while
[22:30] depriving students of active instruction
in a classroom. So uh my back to my
[22:34] question, what's happening with the FTE?
I have 40 students over the ideal
[22:38] target. Shouldn't that number and the
numbers from my colleagues be generating
[22:42] extra sections? Thank you.
[22:48] » Thank you. Our next speaker is Reagan
Lorden.
[22:54] » Hello. I'm Reagan Lorden, the BE uh BEA
vice president, and I'm here tonight um
[22:59] to well, I just wanted to say that I've
come every time last year to talk about
[23:04] pretty much the same thing, which is
class sizes. And so, um, instead of me
[23:08] speaking on behalf of them, I'm here
tonight to read some quotes, um, that we
[23:12] collected from teachers with, um,
exceptional class sizes. And as Keller
[23:16] reminded us, the class, uh, for core
classes should be 28 per our CBA and 26
[23:21] for ELA. Um, a secondary teacher with a
class size of 40. I initially had 40
[23:26] students in my first period and was
struggling to find seats and tables for
[23:29] everyone. I have no extra seats or
tables in my room for any more students.
[23:34] secondary world language and ELA teacher
with a class size of 30. Sometimes the
[23:37] room is so full that that I cannot get
to a student to answer their question or
[23:41] stand next to them. I have to yell
halfway across the room to ask and
[23:44] answer questions. Secondary special ed
teacher with a case load of 30. Teaching
[23:49] is literally 20% of my job now. Case
working is handling parent and student
[23:53] behavior as well as an IEP online that
is unusable and is taking up my entire
[23:57] capacity. an elementary counselor with a
CA case load of 536. As a counselor, it
[24:04] is recommended that the ratio is 250
to1. The average in Washington state is
[24:09] 441.
Um, and then a secondary teacher with a
[24:14] 37 a class size of 37 students. Despite
using a microphone, it's difficult to
[24:19] get students to pay attention, and the
ones who can hear me have a hard time
[24:22] hearing me all over all the noise.
students with IEPs and 504s that need
[24:26] frequent check-ins can't get them as
often as they should. I would rather my
[24:31] school closed than continue working like
this. And finally, from a secondary
[24:35] teacher, retaining experienced educators
requires more than asking for their
[24:39] continued commitment. It requires
demonstrating that their expertise is
[24:43] respected and that legitimate concerns
are addressed collaboratively. I want to
[24:47] remain invested in this community. I
also need to know that the district is
[24:51] equally invested in the conditions that
allow experienced educators and their
[24:55] students to thrive. Our ask is to make
some timely decisions um with our
[24:59] staffing so that our students can have a
meaningful impactful classroom
[25:02] experience. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[25:07] » Our next speaker is Patrick Carpenter.
[25:19] Hello, my name is Patrick Carpenter. I'm
a Spanish and ELA teacher at Belleview
[25:24] High School. I love my job, adore my
students, and have a great community of
[25:28] colleagues. The conditions we are being
forced to learn in and teach in are
[25:32] unacceptable. So, I've come today to
talk to you about class size. Under the
[25:35] current way the district is approaching
class target sizes and remedy pay, I and
[25:39] a majority of my colleagues received
remedy pay every quarter for every
[25:43] single class last year. Many class many
had class sizes so large they exceeded
[25:47] the seven students over the target limit
outlined in the CBA and so were not
[25:51] compensated for the full scope of their
work. This year it is somehow worse. As
[25:56] a building representative, I've heard
from people across all subjects and
[25:59] grade levels. In English with a target
of 26 students, we are seeing classes
[26:02] being filled on average at 33 per
section. In world language with a target
[26:06] of 28, I have classes of 32 and 36.
Small compared to my colleagues who also
[26:11] have four plus preps a piece in both
French and Japanese. In science, also
[26:16] with a target of 28, I have colleagues
in tiers over class sizes of 40 or more.
[26:20] To frame this in terms of FTE, if we
added three sections of freshman English
[26:25] and two sections of sophomore English,
the class sizes as a total would still
[26:29] be more than 30 on average, four over
our target. There is a full-time
[26:34] position the district is stuffing into
our already overcrowded classrooms, and
[26:38] that's just in one subject area in one
school. Our admin is staffing as
[26:42] instructed by the district. They say
there's no FTE coming our way. I simply
[26:47] do not feel supported by the district. I
do not feel the class size and staffing
[26:51] decisions are being made with the best
interests of our students at heart. The
[26:55] budget is being balanced on the backs of
educators. How am I supposed to teach
[26:59] when I cannot physically get across the
room due to the number of students? How
[27:03] can I build relationships and teach
language when there are many days I
[27:06] can't even talk to everyone? How can I
effectively provide support for students
[27:10] with 504 plans and IEPs as required by
law? Members of the school board, we
[27:16] share a purpose to provide a quality
education to the students of Bellev. So,
[27:19] I'm asking you to do something. Failure
to act on this will put our students
[27:24] education and safety, teachers health
and wellbeing, and the reputation of the
[27:27] entire district in jeopardy. Please act
with integrity and properly staff our
[27:30] schools.
>> Thank you.
[27:36] » Our next speaker is Christy Sweinger.
[27:41] Hello, my name is Christy Swessinger and
I have two kiddos in the district. Um, I
[27:46] am part of Belleview PTSA Council, but
I'm here tonight speaking on behalf of
[27:50] myself and we'd like to welcome the
board and all of our community members
[27:54] to an upcoming event that PTSA Council
and um, uh, Belleview School District is
[28:01] the welcome center is hosting for new
families coming into the district. um
[28:06] primarily kindergarten families but prek
if you're new to the district. The event
[28:11] is on Wednesday, September 23rd from 4
to 6:00 p.m. and we will have BSD
[28:18] leaders here. Um we will have um student
performances from um our some of our
[28:24] high schools and then it's a great
opportunity to connect with families,
[28:29] people already in the district. we'll
have many people um for with language
[28:33] access if you know if you need some help
uh completely understanding if you're
[28:38] new to the country um those sorts of
things and then I also want to mention
[28:42] that as part of my role with um uh
Washington state PTA advocacy committee
[28:49] I've um submitted I continue to advocate
for literacy and math and I've submitted
[28:54] an issue for um debate I guess uh debate
would our members vote on our top five
[29:02] legislative priorities every bienium.
And so that will be happening in
[29:07] October. So I'm focused on math and
literacy still and hope that we can get
[29:11] all of our PTA members across the state
to approve that as a legislative
[29:16] priority. So thank you all for um
allowing and um allowing me to speak and
[29:22] to um hopefully get all of our families
to this new welcome event. Thank you.
[29:27] » And Christie, what day is the event?
Wednesday, September 23rd from 4 to 6 at
[29:34] the welcome center.
[29:37] » All right. Thank you. Our next speaker
is Michelle Morant.
[29:45] » My name is Michelle Mordant. I serve on
the BEA executive board. I want to
[29:49] continue sharing what educators are
experiencing in these first few weeks of
[29:52] school. A secondary teacher serving 110
students across three classes shared 40
[29:58] students in a classroom is a safety
issue. It also creates a hidden budget
[30:01] issue because materials much stretch
much further. An elementary teacher with
[30:05] 33 students said, "I do not have enough
time in the day to truly connect with
[30:10] every child in the way they need or
deserve." An orchestra teacher with 53
[30:14] and 56 students explained that providing
just five minutes of assessment per and
[30:19] feedback per student requires more than
two additional hours beyond the
[30:23] contractual day each time classes are
assessed. Teachers also re raised
[30:28] concerns about classroom capacity,
student support and learning conditions.
[30:32] One secondary student asked why
classroom fire code capacities are not
[30:36] readily available. Another teaching
another teaching 37 students including
[30:41] 15 with significant learning needs
questioned how they can effectively meet
[30:45] all students needs. Several secondary
teachers reported class sizes growing
[30:50] from the mid30s in August to nearly 40
by the first days of school with
[30:54] students still being added. A science
teacher with 36 students not noted some
[30:59] lab activities are simply no longer
feasible with a class this size. An
[31:04] elementary teacher with 30 students
shared concerns about insufficient
[31:08] instructional materials. Another
secondary teacher observed that crowded
[31:11] classrooms make it harder for students,
particularly neurode divergent students,
[31:15] to engage and receive individualized the
support they need. What we are hearing
[31:19] is not about educator convenience. It's
about student experience. These are
[31:23] daily realities affecting students
safety, learning, engagement, and
[31:26] well-being across our district. The
students who need connection,
[31:30] intervention, encouragement the most are
most often the first to feel the impact.
[31:35] Behind every enrollment number is a
child who deserves to be known,
[31:39] supported, and challenged. Behind every
staffing decision is a classroom where
[31:42] educators are trying to meet the needs
of every student in front of them. Now
[31:47] that we have passed the 8-day count,
please consider these very real impacts.
[31:51] Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[31:56] The next speaker is Matthew Bush.
[32:03] » Excuse me. Um, good afternoon members of
the board. My name is Matt Bush. I'm a
[32:06] history teacher at Belleview High School
and I just wanted to share a quick story
[32:10] that really kind of stopped me as I was
driving home um yesterday. So, I have a
[32:15] class um that as of yesterday was at 36.
I just checked. Today it's at 34. Um,
[32:20] which is great. I'm glad we're moving in
that direction. Um, but in class that
[32:23] day, I had a student who that was their
second day of class and we were talking.
[32:26] I said, "Okay, can you write that down?"
And the student didn't know how to
[32:30] write. Um, and then after school in
tutorial, I had a student in that same
[32:35] class ask me, "How do I self-study for
AP World?" Because they didn't have room
[32:38] in AP World. And so I was driving home
thinking about, I have a kid who can't
[32:43] write. I have a kid who wants to be in
AP and I have to make relationships with
[32:48] the 33 other kids in between. It's hard
enough when we're at 28, but you throw
[32:53] an additional kid and a kid and a kid.
I want to do my job. I want to do my job
[32:59] really, really well.
I I it stopped me when I was trying to
[33:04] drive home to figure out how do I do
that to the best of my ability. So, I
[33:09] know we've thrown a lot of numbers.
We've said a lot of things. I But that
[33:12] for me was like the okay, can we find
some money somewhere? Can we reallocate
[33:16] some money somewhere? um because this is
having a real impact not just on me as a
[33:20] teacher but the kids who are in my room.
So thank you.
[33:25] » Thank you.
[33:29] » Our next speaker is Joel Ingram.
[33:38] » Good evening directors. Uh for the first
time I come before you, I get to say
[33:42] that I officially have three kids in
secondary. It's a little overwhelming.
[33:46] Uh each of them have seven classes. So
that makes a total of 21 different
[33:51] classes and different teachers that I
get to try to support my kids and track
[33:55] them. Um I want to start quickly with a
quick story. Um a teacher shared
[33:59] recently how um they asked their
students and their families to
[34:03] specifically get one calculator. And
there's a reason standards help make a
[34:08] classroom run smoothly. So, if a teacher
is trying to help a student follow along
[34:13] in the lesson and they can't use the
calculator because not that the math is
[34:17] wrong, but the buttons are labeled
differently, it's got different
[34:20] routines, it doesn't work. And that's
kind of the theme I want to use for
[34:24] tonight is systems and standardizations
help. And when we talk about family
[34:29] engagement, I really want to highlight
academic family engagement because the
[34:34] number one question I have for my kids
when they come home is, "How was school?
[34:37] What did you learn? What are you working
on? and what's for homework. We have a
[34:41] great uh records management system uh
parent view and synergy, but that's
[34:46] really the rear view mirror. That's a
great tool to tell you what a student
[34:50] got on a a test or a homework
assignment, but typically there's a lag.
[34:55] It's not looking forward. We need what
is known as a learning management system
[35:00] that looks forward. We need one app or
one website where parents can go. They
[35:05] can see every assignment that is laid
out for the next week. They need to know
[35:10] when tests are coming up. Um, using
analogy, my kids are all in the same
[35:14] soccer club. There is one app. I can go
to one calendar. I know all the
[35:18] practices, all of the uh games,
locations, what color they are, home or
[35:24] away, and I can function as a parent. We
know that outcomes for students improve
[35:28] when parents are engaged. Let's make it
easier for parents. Let's get give
[35:33] parents and students a single entry
point. I'm not advocating that we change
[35:38] the digital stack we currently have, but
we need to organize it. We need an entry
[35:42] point and a learning management system
is that entry point. Thank you.
[35:46] » Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Satria Canopan.
[35:58] Good evening members of the board. My
name is Satvika Kanapen and this year
[36:02] I'm a youth link board member. I am also
a sophomore currently attending Newport
[36:06] High School. We are here tonight to
extend our invitation to you for our
[36:10] upcoming annual youth link gumbo night
event on weddness day, October 28th from
[36:15] 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Crossroads
Community Center. For the past 28 years,
[36:20] Bellev Youth Link hosts this special
event that provides an opportunity for
[36:24] Bellev Youth Link members to dialogue
with our elected officials, community
[36:28] board members, and other city leadership
about important topics affecting our
[36:32] youth today. Youth and guests share
important conversations over delicious
[36:36] pots of gumbo and other food. We hope
that you can join us for this special
[36:40] and unique evening with our youth link
members. Your perspective, experience,
[36:44] and support for our young people are
extremely important. To RSVP, please
[36:49] contact our YouthLink staff at youth
link at belleviewwah.gov or call us at
[36:53] 425-4522847.
[36:57] Thank you so much for taking the time to
listen to me today.
[37:00] » Thank you.
[37:04] » And our final speaker this evening is
Lauren B.
[37:12] Good evening, Dr. Armachi and members of
the school board. My name is Lauren Bai.
[37:16] I'm a 10th grade student at Interlake
High School here on behalf of Lens of
[37:20] Youth, a youthled nonprofit advocating
for people with intellectual and/or
[37:24] developmental disabilities or ID through
storytelling, art, photography, and
[37:29] community engagement. Our flagship
program, Misunderstood Moments, shares a
[37:33] collection of real life stories from
people with ID, paired with original
[37:38] illustrations created by youth artists.
Through art and storytelling, we
[37:42] encourage people to look beyond a single
moment, and instead hear the person and
[37:45] perspectives behind them. Over the past
year, we have reached seven cities
[37:49] through more than 50 community events
and exhibitions, collected more than
[37:53] 4,000 pledges for inclusion, launching
five free programs offering art, music,
[37:58] dance, and kung fu classes. Here in
Belleview, our gallery has been shared
[38:02] at Belleview Library, Factori Mall,
Crossroads Mall, and several community
[38:06] centers and events. We are actively
collaborating with Belleview School
[38:10] District's Evergreen Transition Program.
Last school year, we provided two free
[38:14] music classes and two free art lessons
to the students, and the feedback was
[38:18] overwhelmingly positive. The artworks
created during the art classes are
[38:21] actually on display in the district
lobby right now. This year, we will
[38:25] provide additional art classes with
funding from King County Council member
[38:28] Baluchi and for culture. Combining with
the artworks from the Evergreen
[38:32] Transition Program and real life stories
from misunderstood moments, we hope to
[38:37] gain support from the district to tour
this traveling exhibition throughout
[38:40] Belleview School District. Using art and
real stories, we hope to turn
[38:43] misunderstanding into understanding and
understanding into inclusion. Teaching
[38:48] valuable perspectives and advocating for
an unheard voice to my peers. Thank you
[38:52] Dr. Armaki and the school board for your
time supporting young voices in the
[38:55] community.
>> Thank you very much.
[39:01] » And that concludes our public commenters
for this evening.
[39:06] » Fantastic. Appreciate all the public
comments and feedback. Um, we are moving
[39:10] on to item 5.0, reports. And it looks
like we have one report on operational
[39:15] excellence tonight.
[39:24] We'll take just a moment to get
everybody up front and seated and then
[39:28] we'll get started.
[39:54] She wants a photo first.
[40:00] [laughter]
It is a pretty good-look group, huh?
[40:05] Just kidding. Uh, board directors,
community, anybody who may be listening
[40:09] in this evening, thank you so much. My
name is Dr. Heather Sanchez and it is my
[40:15] I serve as the deputy superintendent for
the district and it is my honor to
[40:18] introduce you to the people finance and
operations team who is here to share
[40:23] with you this evening some highlights of
the start of the year from the
[40:28] operational perspective. First I do want
to say that we also have Mr. Lauren
[40:33] Tilman on our team representing finance.
We decided he could have the evening off
[40:38] tonight as he has spent a fair amount of
time in this room thus far. So, he is
[40:44] here in spirit but not physically here
with us this evening. But the rest of
[40:48] the individuals you see seated here this
evening represent departments that touch
[40:52] virtually every aspect of a student's
day outside of the direct instruction
[40:58] from their teacher. from when their
family walks in the door to the welcome
[41:02] center to register to what they eat to
onboarding new staff members to opening
[41:08] doors to new buildings and putting in
new less exciting things like new
[41:13] toilets although they are pretty
exciting. um whether or not their
[41:17] building is safe. And virtually when
they step on the bus, when they step off
[41:22] the bus, virtually every aspect of that
child's experience is touched in some
[41:28] way, shape or form by the individuals,
the leaders sitting at this table who
[41:32] support the operational aspects all in
service of the learning of our students.
[41:37] So we are thrilled to be here with you
to share just a bit across departments
[41:42] about the launch of the school year.
Okay.
[41:49] » Well, [clears throat] we've had a busy
year and u toilets are important out
[41:53] there. I will tell you that. And um
anyway, we um are celebrating the
[42:00] opening of Big Picture School. Um that's
been a a great fun project for all of
[42:06] us. And uh we were able to get the
school open when we made a plan to be
[42:12] able to get there. and uh we welcomed
the students into that project. So um
[42:19] we're very happy with that project and
how it turned out. There's still work
[42:22] that's going on. uh we had a delay of
getting our permits of three months and
[42:27] so we did have quite a bit of time to
make up and a lot of our contractors
[42:32] subcontractors uh worked overtime hours
to help us achieve that as well as
[42:37] working with the city personnel for
inspections and and helping us slice
[42:42] through a lot of the red tape that goes
with opening a new building. Um we have
[42:47] international uh replacement and inner
lake high school editions going on right
[42:52] now. International is going is actually
was in for permitting starting on
[42:57] Tuesday of this week. And uh Inner Lake
is in the process of getting out for
[43:03] bids for a phase one which is to be able
to do some infrastructure and uh
[43:09] waterline replacements that we need to
do to support the new additional square
[43:13] footage for the fire loop and so on. And
so that uh is going to be out for bid
[43:18] here in October and we hope to bring
that to the board for award of contract
[43:22] for that phase in November. Uh we also
then and these projects are all funded
[43:28] by bond money. Uh the transition sensory
garden is um underway and we expect to
[43:35] have substantial completed completion on
that project by the uh end of October.
[43:41] And so that's a area just uh south of
the current transition building and uh
[43:48] the project is coming along really well.
It's going to be a definite uh
[43:53] opportunity for the students and staff
there on our capital levy funded
[43:57] projects. Uh we completed uh
genderneutral restrooms at Samish High
[44:02] School. Photos included there of that
project. And um then Newport Heights
[44:08] Elementary and Tai Tai Middle School, we
replaced a chilled water system up there
[44:13] and added new chillers. Um again,
they've been on the useful life for both
[44:18] of those chillers and we definitely try
to go ahead and make sure we can replace
[44:23] things before they fail. So that was a
key element that was done this summer.
[44:28] And I'm happy to report that all four of
our high schools exceeded the Washington
[44:33] Clean Buildings Act performance
standards. And so um they uh they
[44:39] performed very well and met all of the
goals and exceeded everything that was
[44:43] set forth on that. And this year we'll
be doing middle school which is all
[44:48] based on the square footage of the
buildings.
[44:51] Uh custodial and warehouse operations.
Um the warehouse, they took care of
[44:58] furniture deliveries that go on
throughout the summer. Um either
[45:03] replacing, moving
classroom sizes, locations, uh moving
[45:08] some teachers based on enrollment
changes throughout the district. I think
[45:12] they did 40 moves this year. And then at
Big Picture, they did all of the packing
[45:18] up at the old Big Picture school and
then moved it all over on one weekend to
[45:25] the new school uh so that be ready to go
for the teachers and Jubilee Reach to
[45:30] help uh teachers set up their
classrooms. We also in the warehouse and
[45:35] I think you visited last year and saw
the a number of the science kits and the
[45:40] PE kits that are out there and those are
all collected in July brought back to
[45:45] the warehouse. They're refurbished by
staff over the summer and they were
[45:49] delivered before school started for the
science and elementary PE programs. Our
[45:54] custodial staff was involved in deep
cleaning all of the schools, going
[45:58] through everything with all of the
custodial members in a in a team
[46:02] cleaning situation.
And then uh the C custodial staff also
[46:07] then uh uh started up their leadership
classes again to go ahead and give
[46:13] people management skills to be able to
apply for uh chief knight and head day
[46:18] custodians to move up within the
organization.
[46:22] um the maintenance department, they put
out a um thing to all of the schools and
[46:30] buildings for work orders and they for
summer work orders. And so that starts
[46:35] about mid bay and uh from mid bay until
the start of the school year, they
[46:40] completed 1,229
work orders. And um and we had it by the
[46:46] numbers 13 of our emergency generators
were given load bank testings which is
[46:51] how we test how much energy they can
generate and sustain over a period of
[46:55] time as well as making sure everything's
reliable and ready to go for the what we
[47:00] know will be the upcoming
[clears throat] uh storm seasons. So
[47:05] we're ready to go with that. A lot of
the maintenance items are maintaining
[47:09] all of our parking lots, doing all the
striping out there for fire lanes and
[47:13] things like that. So, it's not beautiful
artwork, but it's very necessary to do
[47:18] that. And um the number of battery
replacements for emergency lighting and
[47:25] our access controls, the badges that you
have that get you into the building, all
[47:29] of those have battery backup that all
have to be replaced on an annual basis.
[47:33] So there's literally thousands of those
that take place. Uh we have turf repairs
[47:38] go on by our maintenance and grounds
crew. Uh we had some fireworks damage at
[47:43] at Madina Bennett and Inner Lake and uh
they went out and took care of those. A
[47:49] lot of classroom moves alterations and
then the fire alarm testing which takes
[47:53] place most of the summer to make sure
that all of our systems are operational.
[47:57] We have to have the interior of all the
fire suppression lines checked uh every
[48:04] five years. And so it's pretty extensive
job just to go ahead and certify that
[48:09] we've got good safe environments for our
for our students and staff. And then all
[48:14] the elevators are tested and certified
for annual operations.
[48:20] » That's about it.
[laughter]
[48:24] » Is that all?
>> Yeah. No.
[48:27] » Hi everyone. I'm Freedom Johnson, the
coordinator for the uh engagement
[48:32] specialist for VIP educators program.
And um not with us tonight is our um
[48:38] fearless leader of the new hire
orientation team, Janisha Branch, who is
[48:42] our director of employer relations and
leadership development. I got it right.
[48:47] And I'm Anna Haddlestead, the program
coordinator for instructional mentors
[48:51] and national board certification. So,
we're here to talk about new hire
[48:55] orientation. We had three days of it and
it was amazing. So, we were very
[48:59] intentional in planning new hire or
orientation. Ultimately, our goal was
[49:03] for every new employee to leave
orientation feeling welcomed, connected,
[49:07] informed, and ready to begin the year.
Not just as a new hire, but as a valued
[49:12] member of the Belleview School District
community. So, day one, our theme was
[49:16] belong. We wanted new hires from
classroom educators to ESAs to even new
[49:21] admin uh to understand not only where
they were working but what they were
[49:24] becoming a part of. We took participants
on a um out of the traditional
[49:30] orientation setting and we put them on
school buses for a district-wide tour
[49:34] led by Dr. Aramaki. He got five star
reviews. Um so thank you. We visited
[49:40] different locations, heard from
departments and leaders, and learned
[49:43] pieces of our district's history and
story. This gave new employees a much
[49:47] broader perspective of the Belleview
School District and helped them to begin
[49:51] to see themselves as a part of our
community. We intentionally ended the
[49:55] day with connection and storytelling.
Former noviceses from the previous year
[49:59] returned to participate on an educator
panel. Uh they shared their experiences,
[50:04] offered practical advice, and answered
questions from those just beginning
[50:08] their careers in BSD. We are we also
provided new administrators with the
[50:12] opportunity to hear directly from
experienced colleagues through a panel
[50:16] designed specifically for their roles.
Uh this was an important message in and
[50:20] of itself because we don't just welcome
new employees, we invite them to become
[50:24] a part of our community that supports
one another.
[50:27] » And a quote from one of our participants
um about day one. Uh it is profound to
[50:33] have the superintendent lead this tour.
This is exemplary leadership in my
[50:37] opinion. I was also impacted by the many
personal stories from employees that we
[50:41] met that connect us to history and
community. Day two, our theme was learn.
[50:46] So once participants had a stronger
sense of belonging, we focused on
[50:50] building their readiness. They spent the
morning learning about the technology
[50:53] and systems that they would use in their
day-to-day work. We then opened the
[50:57] doors to a resource fair bringing
support directly to our new employees.
[51:02] They could have connect uh sorry they
could connect face tof face with
[51:05] representatives from benefits, the
Belleview Education Association, the
[51:09] Belleview Schools Foundation, National
Board Certification Engagement
[51:12] Specialists, and other departments and
resources from across the district. They
[51:16] spent their afternoons at their job
sites meeting important people from
[51:20] office managers, admin, custodians,
ITCL's, and colleagues. And a quote from
[51:26] uh day two participant um said, "The
ITCL at my site met everyone right where
[51:30] they were at with timely, relevant,
meaningful information and support. It
[51:35] was the most impactful part of the day 2
experience.
[51:39] And then day three of our new hire
orientation was our equity day um
[51:44] facilitated by the engagement
specialists for BIPO educators team. Uh
[51:48] the theme was ready to lead. Focusing on
deepening our equity values through
[51:53] shared learning and reflection. So
throughout the day we explored how our
[51:57] identities shape our experiences and
interactions. We examined the impact of
[52:01] implicit bias and microaggressions in
educational settings. Participants
[52:05] engaged in activities and discussions
that encourage self-awareness, empathy,
[52:09] and a deeper understanding of
anti-racism and belonging. Rather than
[52:13] viewing equity as a destination, we
emphasize that it is an ongoing practice
[52:17] that requires courage, reflection, and
action. The day concluded with a call to
[52:22] action to use what we learn to help
create environments where every student,
[52:26] family, and staff member feels seen,
valued, and supported. By strengthening
[52:30] our commitment to equity, and belonging,
we continue building the beloved
[52:33] community that is at the heart of the
Bellev School District. And our quote
[52:38] from day three, I am so grateful to have
a district that not just centers and
[52:42] encourages equity dialogue, but that
demonstrates and provides educators ways
[52:47] to compassionately engage in equity
work.
[52:52] Good evening. I'm Wendy Wire, director
of nutrition services. Uh, as last
[52:56] school year ended, our team transitioned
to supporting children in our community
[53:01] by offering free meals through the
summer feeding program. Uh this year
[53:05] meals were available at Stevenson and
Inner Lake High School, which hosted the
[53:09] district's summer school programs. Uh
one of our newer summer roles is
[53:13] supporting families of eligible students
in accessing SunBugs. Sunbucks is a $120
[53:19] EBT benefit card that is used by
families to purchase food when school is
[53:23] out. Um the families of over 4,500
students qualified for this benefit in
[53:28] our district. Over the summer, our team
has an opportunity to have a little
[53:33] creative fun getting into the kitchen
and focusing on new menu and recipe
[53:37] development. A few new items that our
students will see this fall include a
[53:41] Korean beef beam and bop bowl, hot honey
chicken sandwich, a scratchade tomato
[53:47] soup that was actually on the menu today
in our middle and high schools, and a
[53:51] scratchmade breakfast burrito. These
additions expand variety and bring more
[53:55] freshly prepared choices to our
students. We launched our new explore
[53:59] more menu theme and logo, a nod to Dr.
Aramaki and his love of space and the
[54:05] moon. Uh to encourage students to
discover new foods and flavors in a fun,
[54:10] engaging way. Sustainability remains an
important priority. Uh to help reduce
[54:15] waste, we partnered with our uh
communications department and also our
[54:19] language specialists to create a new
school lunch rules video that is
[54:23] available in English, Spanish, and
Chinese. The video's goal is to help
[54:27] elementary students understand the lunch
process and how to make choices to
[54:31] minimize unwanted food. We strengthen
access to school meal benefits by
[54:36] opening the child nutrition eligibility
and education benefit application or
[54:41] known as SNEB earlier than planned on
August 12th. Application materials are
[54:47] now offered in seven languages and we
updated the more than a meal application
[54:52] benefits flyer as a resource for
families. uh to promote application
[54:57] completion. Since mid August, more than
3,500 students have been qualified for
[55:02] school meal benefits for this year.
Staffing is another key part of reliable
[55:07] meal services for our students.
Nutrition services hosted two job fairs
[55:11] in early August to support hiring. And
I'm happy to report that we were fully
[55:15] staffed on the first day of school, not
on the second day, but at least we had
[55:20] one day being fully staffed. Um together
these efforts reflect our department's
[55:25] commitment to nourishing students,
supporting families, and partnering with
[55:29] our schools every day.
Good evening, directors. For the record,
[55:34] my name is Douglas James, your director
of safety and security. This summer, in
[55:38] preparation for the new school year, the
safety and security department focused
[55:41] on, excuse me, [clears throat] people,
processes, and safety equipment. people
[55:46] recognizing our staff are our most
important safety resource. We provided
[55:49] essential life safety training to all
the administrators in the district on
[55:53] incident response and also trauma
informed and safe searching of
[55:57] individuals for dangerous weapons. We
connected with all district parah
[56:01] educators and provided them training and
reunification best practices
[56:05] and had the opportunity to provide three
hours of safety training to our
[56:09] Belleview Boys and Girls Club partners.
That's extremely important because as
[56:14] you're aware they're in all of our
elementary schools and it really
[56:17] synergizes our response efforts both
before, during, and after school hours.
[56:23] Under processes, we updated our district
level emergency operations plan. That's
[56:26] our guiding document to all critical
incidences, whether it's a fire,
[56:31] earthquake, mass casualty incident,
simple power outage, right? It guides
[56:35] our response efforts and we train to
that. We added an appendex on extreme
[56:40] heat response measures and also air
quality and updated the safety and
[56:45] security department's uh external facing
web page with an environmental safety
[56:49] tab that covers our extreme heat
responses and air quality index. Uh we
[56:55] also updated our mutual aid agreement
with the city of Belleview. That's an
[56:58] important document that codifies our
sharing of resources uh in a large-scale
[57:03] critical incident between the city and
the school district. And then under
[57:08] safety equipment, uh we inventoried all
the AEDs across the district, found them
[57:12] all to be accounted for, which is
positive and in good working order. Uh
[57:17] and then we provided life safety
equipment for our new P picture school.
[57:20] Made sure it's standardized with all the
rest of the equipment across the
[57:23] district. Lastly, we leveraged uh
district tech levy funding to put new
[57:28] cameras in at Madina Elementary. We have
cameras being installed at Somerset and
[57:33] Spirit Ridge currently. Uh and that that
project at those two sites will be
[57:38] completed by the end of October. Uh also
leveraging TEFL funding, we repaired
[57:43] exterior cameras at several of our high
schools. Safety and security department
[57:47] uh looks forward to this year advancing
safety and security efforts across the
[57:50] district.
>> Good evening. Angela Christopherson,
[57:54] technology services. Um and technology
services, we prepared everyone for a
[58:00] strong start of the school. We
collected, we reimaged, and we passed
[58:05] back out over 20,000 student devices.
Um, over the summer, we have a team that
[58:12] comes together to do that, and we had
students that joined us from the Cisco
[58:16] program and from the Evergreen
Transition Program. So, it's a really um
[58:21] it's a fun team that gets together. Uh,
we upgraded wireless in 14 of our
[58:27] schools and district locations. Um, we
expanded and improved classroom
[58:33] technology across the district. Um, and
we upgraded to InTouch pay which is
[58:39] going to promote easier school payments.
Um, we also protected and modernized.
[58:46] Um, we completed uh we had Microsoft
come in and uh it's a specialty security
[58:53] team um and they did an independent
review of our security system. Um and
[58:59] the good news is the results were uh
that we had no evidence of an active in
[59:05] intrusion. Um and they also rated us as
20% stronger than other organizations
[59:12] our size. So we feel very good about
that.
[59:16] Uh also on the security side we introd
uh we introduced a new security
[59:22] awareness platform. That's what the
acorn is up there. Um, it really turns
[59:28] thousands of emails that we get uh every
day, every hour at the Belleby School
[59:33] District into an early warning system.
Um, because staff across the district
[59:38] can press a button and a it's actually a
squirrel. Um, it's a company called
[59:44] CyberNet. Um, but then they notify us if
there's uh emails that are look
[59:50] suspicious or that are um evidence of
fishing. Um, and then uh the the product
[59:58] then we can take a look at the the
emails um and then remove the emails
[1:00:02] from all of our uh staff inboxes. So if
there's one bad email, we can remove it
[1:00:08] from all of our staff inboxes. Um we
also advanced AI responsibly across the
[1:00:15] district by developing guidelines and
resources.
[1:00:18] our applications team, our solutions
team does custom development and we
[1:00:24] built an alternative learning experience
app for digital discovery. Um, and then
[1:00:30] finally partnering with our friends in
the welcome center, we tested and
[1:00:34] configured volunteer matters, which is
new software that is going to improve
[1:00:39] our volunteer operations um and help
with our background check visibility.
[1:00:49] Good evening, directors. For those of
you who don't know me, my name is Don
[1:00:53] Dixon. I am the director of
transportation for the Belleview School
[1:00:57] District. And I'm here to say the wheels
on the bus still go round and round,
[1:01:02] went round and round today. Um things
that happened for us in our department,
[1:01:08] uh we continue to route efficiently. Uh
but last year we traveled 10,000 less
[1:01:14] mileage and saved about 1300
uh in in fuel costs in gallons of fuel
[1:01:21] which is close to about $10,000.
Um this year you guys know Metro made a
[1:01:27] lot of changes. uh we were able to adapt
some of our um
[1:01:34] bus routes that service the
international big picture uh schools to
[1:01:39] cover some of those areas that Metro
does not go to anymore. And for me the
[1:01:45] most important thing I know student
enrollment is down but wrership is up by
[1:01:50] about 200 students and this is due right
now to the big picture move. More
[1:01:56] students are riding the bus. Um and I
project the same
[1:02:02] increase when international moves to uh
ring.
[1:02:08] Thank you.
[clears throat]
[1:02:12] » Good evening school board directors.
This is Dr. Mas here with the welcome
[1:02:16] center. Um the [clears throat] welcome
center if you had the opportunity to
[1:02:19] stop by this summer was just buzzing
with activity. If you ever been to my
[1:02:23] office that's where the picture of where
the sun is. Um, there's a little
[1:02:26] kitchenet if you in case you ever want
to, you know, warm up your lunch or
[1:02:29] something. Kids are there all the time.
So, a good indicator for me how busy we
[1:02:33] are is when I have kids knock on my
window and try to play with my computer
[1:02:36] or something. But, it's really really
amazing to have uh families come and um,
[1:02:42] you know, make a use of the welcome
center. So, I'm going to be sharing some
[1:02:44] numbers with you, but I know there's a
lot of stories and a lot of things that
[1:02:47] go behind these numbers. Um, we have a
lot of families come to the welcome
[1:02:51] center for different things. Some of the
families come for digital discovery. um
[1:02:55] student supports, but out of the
families that we serve directly, we had
[1:03:00] over 200 families come to the welcome
center to be supported by a welcome
[1:03:03] center specialist. That's a huge
testament of um you know, the support
[1:03:07] that the team is providing to the
community. And um most of the families
[1:03:11] that come to the welcome center, some of
the families are supported um through
[1:03:14] the phone. They don't have to come in
person to the welcome center to get
[1:03:18] support from us. Um but we uh process
about two um about almost 3,000
[1:03:23] enrollments for the 26 27th school year.
The enrollment um um processing process
[1:03:30] starts in February of each year. So this
is really really exciting. And yesterday
[1:03:34] we sent out a survey to our new families
because we want to hear from them and we
[1:03:37] want to hear about how the experience
went. Then also part of the welcome
[1:03:41] center we have the office of Mckin Vento
which focuses on supporting families
[1:03:45] facing housing stability and
homelessness. Um every year in the
[1:03:49] summer we review um hundreds of um
housing questionnaers to ensure that the
[1:03:54] families who need supports uh um you
know to be able to have their kids
[1:03:58] access their uh education are provided
with those. And this year this summer we
[1:04:03] have about over 300 of those families
who qualify for Mckin vent protections.
[1:04:07] So uh we're really excited to be of
support of you know families who are
[1:04:11] experiencing some of the most
challenging situations in our system.
[1:04:14] Then in addition to that, language
access is part of the welcome center as
[1:04:17] well. And this is our third year of the
language of after the launch of the
[1:04:20] language access program. And this year
in collaboration with technology and
[1:04:26] communications, we use some innovative
tools to create some really short cool
[1:04:30] videos for uh training families and uh
staff about the use of our tools. And
[1:04:35] it's interesting because um you know if
you ever seen the Cintishia videos that
[1:04:39] are created by AI it's like this person
talking about and it's just so amazing
[1:04:43] and we try to keep the videos really
short and available in multiple
[1:04:46] languages of course so that families can
have an understanding of what it is that
[1:04:51] we have to support with language access.
If we go to the next slide please. Um,
[1:04:56] one counter store u huge piece of the
welcome center is the collaboration and
[1:05:01] the work that we do with our community
partners and I know I'm going to do a
[1:05:04] huge disservice here because we get
support from many many many
[1:05:07] organizations but I want to highlight
some of the things that has been
[1:05:10] happening in preparation for the
beginning of the school year. So um
[1:05:14] going back to Christie thank you
Christie for the shout out and the
[1:05:17] information about the event that's
coming up on the 23rd from 4 4 to 6. So
[1:05:21] please don't forget 23rd from 4 to 6
which is Wednesday PTSA Belby the PTSA
[1:05:27] council has been a critical partner with
us in not only this event and the
[1:05:31] collaboration with technology on uh
streamlining the volunteer system but so
[1:05:35] many ways. Um so we're really excited
about that's coming up next week. But
[1:05:39] then about um 1,600 a little over 1,600
um backpacks were um uh put together and
[1:05:48] distributed by um one of our community
or partners, Congregation for Kids.
[1:05:52] These were distributed to all schools um
K through 12 um and they contain some
[1:05:57] supplies specific to different grade
levels. That require a lot of work and
[1:06:01] um lot of preparation. So we're so
thankful for their support. Then um our
[1:06:06] partners from Belleville Lifepring um
collaborated with um Amazon and they put
[1:06:10] together about 5,000 snack packs that
were distributed to schools so that
[1:06:14] those families and students who need
some you know snacks um or additional
[1:06:19] things um get those by the beginning of
the school year. So we're really
[1:06:22] thankful to Belleville Lifepring for
that support as well. Bellev Boys and
[1:06:26] Girls Club as you know um they are
working they're um providing an after
[1:06:31] and before school care and um we had
representation from them at the welcome
[1:06:35] center during the summer to help with
enrollment which is something really
[1:06:39] amazing and we're super thankful to to
them as well. And then ICHS uh which is
[1:06:44] a community partner that we work with
and they're the ones who work um the
[1:06:47] Highland Clinic came to the welcome
center as well to provide uh families
[1:06:51] with support with vaccination to get the
the students ready for the first day of
[1:06:55] school. So you'll see some of those
pictures there. Uh boys and girls club
[1:06:59] also came with a van and provided some
um you know support for a families on
[1:07:03] multiple days. And then we partner with
the city of Belleview as we have done in
[1:07:07] the past to be part of movies in the
park which is a great opportunity for us
[1:07:10] as the district to just share some
information and welcome our families for
[1:07:14] the beginning of school year. But we are
super thrilled about um you know the
[1:07:19] beginning of school year and being of
support to our community. Thank you.
[1:07:30] All right. And as you can see, we hope
that this provides a snapshot to you of
[1:07:35] how busy these departments were over the
summer. While many were off vacationing,
[1:07:40] well-earned, might I add, these
departments were above a buzz with
[1:07:44] activity. Um, all in preparation of
receiving our students and families over
[1:07:48] the summer and of course at the start of
the school year. And with that, we are
[1:07:52] happy to receive your feedback.
[1:07:57] » Uh, thanks. We'll continue to follow the
word sequence. So, um, I'm first, so I
[1:08:02] will start that. Um, really appreciate
the presentation. It's great to hear all
[1:08:07] the hard work that goes on on the
summer. A lot of people think the
[1:08:09] schools closed and everybody goes away,
but you guys have clearly been hard at
[1:08:13] work, whether it's planning for
transportation and uh, making sure
[1:08:16] people are being fed all summer. It's
really great work to to to be aware of,
[1:08:20] and I have to thank you for all the work
on the fireworks. I know that there are
[1:08:25] a lot of challenges dealing with that
over the summer.
[1:08:29] um
your your presentations are great
[1:08:32] reminders of some of the things that
are, you know, important beyond the
[1:08:35] teachers. The teachers are obviously why
everybody comes into the schools and we
[1:08:39] want to make sure we're providing great
education, but importance of place. Um,
[1:08:43] you know, I've heard a lot of people
talking about bathrooms in a lot of
[1:08:45] different ways, but obviously the
students feel those are really important
[1:08:49] and they've really valued the the
improvements that we've made with the
[1:08:51] single-use uh restrooms. Um, the
importance of transportation. I've heard
[1:08:56] from a lot of parents that they
appreciate the additional tracking
[1:08:59] tools. Um that they appreciate the
ability to track their their kids. Um I
[1:09:04] do want to note that there do seem to be
some ongoing challenges with the the
[1:09:07] metro changes. Um I know that there's
some families trying to figure that out
[1:09:11] and you're trying to figure it out too.
Um and also that the city traffic keeps
[1:09:16] changing uh and creating challenges for
us navigating this community. Um safety.
[1:09:22] So great to hear about some of the uses
of the levy funding. I know that's one
[1:09:26] of the essential uses is on safety. And
uh one of the challenges I've noted is
[1:09:32] that um when we do have some external
grounds violations, we're struggling to
[1:09:37] use our video to effectively identify or
support the police and identifying those
[1:09:41] people. So I have the curiosity if
there's more we can do there um to
[1:09:45] support that. Um new hires, it's great
to hear about the training. Um, I wasn't
[1:09:51] there for that training. I was there for
some of the earlier stuff, but it's
[1:09:54] fantastic to see that excitement. I'm
kind of curious about how are they
[1:09:58] doing? You know, do we have additional
check-ins for the new people that are
[1:10:01] separate from the everybody else to make
sure that we're um supporting them
[1:10:05] through the year? And also, I'm curious
about teacher retention overall. Um, you
[1:10:10] know, has it changed? Is it staying
constant? Are we seeing any any changes
[1:10:14] that nutrition? I already mentioned it,
but amazing to provide that support over
[1:10:20] the summers. I do have the curiosity, I
don't know, what happens to our students
[1:10:25] when they go to um uh Running Start for
both technology and for nutrition
[1:10:31] services. Do we continue to support
them? Does that transition to Belleview
[1:10:34] College? I don't know. I'm curious. Just
trying to understand how that works.
[1:10:39] Um and I really appreciate the
additional food offerings and trying to
[1:10:43] make those things that kids really
connect with. um welcome center. Uh
[1:10:48] fantastic seeing the connection with the
community groups. The vaccine clinics
[1:10:52] seem like an amazing resource to be able
to provide our community. Um still
[1:10:56] hoping to see uh more to get the
volunteerism um off the ground and make
[1:11:00] sure that we're bringing our community
volunteers who have a strong interest in
[1:11:04] our in our schools back into our
classrooms. Thanks.
[1:11:10] » Uh next is Director Miklin.
>> Uh thank you. I'm going to echo of
[1:11:15] course the thank yous on how much work
gets done. I love hearing about it
[1:11:18] because I think as a parent we sometimes
forget like oh thank goodness we're all
[1:11:22] in summer and we're not all at summer.
So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for
[1:11:26] all of your teams. I know you all worked
hard and your teams worked hard as well.
[1:11:30] Um like to say you guys work when
everyone else plays. Uh deliveries. Uh
[1:11:36] my qu this is I'm going to be random. I
apologize. Uh how are gas and diesel
[1:11:41] affecting all of the warehouse moves? I
mean, we had so many moves this year
[1:11:45] with school changes. We're going to have
more next year. So, I'm just wondering
[1:11:48] um if I know that's sort of a budgeting
question, but just in terms of
[1:11:52] accessibility and and and the finances
of that are must be staggering.
[1:11:57] Sun cards for nutrition. Um thank you
again. How do family and I know you
[1:12:03] can't answer now. Uh how do families
qualify? Uh is this something that
[1:12:07] they're aware of? Is this something that
you're partnering I assume with welcome
[1:12:10] center on especially our new families
but um I I just I'm it's so it's such a
[1:12:16] relief to hear that we are able to
contribute in that way and so uh and I
[1:12:20] assume with some partnerships and how
that works I don't know but it's
[1:12:23] fascinating to me and I am very excited
that that's available. I just want to
[1:12:26] make sure that people who need it have
access to it. Um and it sounds like many
[1:12:30] do. I I am going to echo and pre-echo I
I'm guessing what Director Watson will
[1:12:36] say about volunteer matters. We're very
very excited to get that going. Our
[1:12:39] community partners are extremely
excited. I know. Um and I know that we
[1:12:44] are going to have um some beginning
schools that are going to start that.
[1:12:48] That's going to be great. Uh but and I
know that there were some technical
[1:12:52] technical issues on um uh keeping things
secure. I appreciate that all of that is
[1:12:58] being addressed and look forward to
seeing the outcome of that. And I'm a
[1:13:02] big fan of our partners. In fact, the
end I'll probably be talking about a few
[1:13:05] of our partners and some of their events
that are coming up. So, very excited
[1:13:08] about that writership in the metro
changes. I applaud the work that's being
[1:13:12] done. I know it's constantly challenging
um especially with the changes and the
[1:13:17] fact that we also have um we have budget
constraints. So, I'm glad to see the
[1:13:21] writership is up. Uh safety, thank you
so much for working with our partners.
[1:13:25] That's amazing. It's one thing to have
our own staff, but you're right. these
[1:13:28] the Belleview Boys and Girls Club takes
care of our kids all after and before
[1:13:32] school. So, thank you for taking that
on. Uh McKin Vento back to welcome
[1:13:37] center um 300. So, that is down from
their height from last year but up from
[1:13:42] the end of last year. So, I'm just
wondering if you're seeing any trends
[1:13:45] and what those might be and and um if
it's this the same trends that we've
[1:13:49] been seeing. I would love to hear about
that later. Uh national board
[1:13:52] certification and that's my favorite
thing to talk about. I would love
[1:13:56] numbers though on where do we fit in
nationally? Where are we? I mean, I know
[1:13:59] I've looked up sort of the the generic
and what I've heard people say. I'd love
[1:14:04] to hear actual factual details from you.
So, thank you so much for that training.
[1:14:08] It sounds like we're aligned with the
strategic plan and the annual plan. So,
[1:14:11] thank you for doing that. That it just
means that our values are being passed
[1:14:14] on to the new next generation of
educators. And my last thing, oh no, I
[1:14:18] already said that. So, thank you,
[1:14:22] Director Harris.
[1:14:26] Okay, I don't talk that fast. Um, so
I'll try to get through all my my list.
[1:14:31] First, I'll say thank you for everyone
um for sharing your information. Um, it
[1:14:35] really this is a nice kind of synopsis
of what it takes to run our school
[1:14:40] district. And I think it's a a great
opportunity for our community as we
[1:14:44] begin the school year. All the work that
happens during the summer when everybody
[1:14:48] thinks everyone's at on vacation that
we're not on vacation. Um,
[1:14:54] so
there's a lot of thank yous, a lot of
[1:14:58] great uh, uh, positive things. U
everything from the new hires um and the
[1:15:03] training that goes the three days um to
I'm assuming that the 3-day training
[1:15:10] that all of the new hires attend that
and if they for whatever reason that
[1:15:14] they miss that that's kept the there's a
tracking of it to make sure they uh gain
[1:15:19] that information um that they should be
receiving. Um the Sunbox Bucks I think
[1:15:25] is what it's called. Uh I I saw on the
screen it says 3500 but I heard 4,500.
[1:15:31] So I I wanted to make sure that I'm
understanding the right one, right
[1:15:35] number, but uh it's great to hear. Um I
love the materials, the seven languages
[1:15:43] um that you guys are offering in the
applications and the diverse uh food
[1:15:49] offerings.
Boom. Bob, thank you. [laughter] um
[1:15:54] sustainability and um uh continuation of
that in multiple languages. I think
[1:15:59] that's great. I I'd love to see more
languages um for that as well. The
[1:16:06] security um I'm always thankful for
security especially now more so than
[1:16:11] ever especially in uh with technology.
Though I do have one question about that
[1:16:16] is um where do we store our data with
our uh camera system? Is it um in cloud
[1:16:24] or is it more local with a um I've today
I received a concern about that specific
[1:16:33] um element given that there is a um
concern in uh
[1:16:41] out u people breaking into that system
and observing things and as well as used
[1:16:46] uh inappropriately in other spaces
including other school districts. So,
[1:16:51] I'd love to learn more about that. Um,
[sighs and gasps]
[1:16:57] oh, less gas. Oh my gosh. Thank you.
[laughter]
[1:17:02] That [gasps] I was trying to figure out
13 thou 1300 gallons. How many teachers
[1:17:06] does that equivalent to? I'm right now
looking at all the money that we save is
[1:17:10] how many teachers are we either cut hire
or we have to decrease. So, that's how
[1:17:17] I'm looking at it everything. So, I
appreciate the fact that we're we're
[1:17:21] decreasing in the fuels uh usage. Um
thank you very much for keeping us in
[1:17:27] loop of the um how many students are um
you know utilizing
[1:17:33] three minutes I'm sorry um of the
welcome center as well as the Mckin
[1:17:39] Vento. I know that at the height we've
had over 700 close to eight
[1:17:45] who were um identify as MCvento. So it's
nice to see the numbers go down. I'd
[1:17:51] love to see like kind of the last five
years of uh um and
[1:17:58] all the uh community partnerships and
the in-person vaccine, everything, all
[1:18:03] of that. That is fantastic. Again, going
back to Jack, thank you for all the work
[1:18:07] that you guys have done in making sure
our buildings are ready to be functional
[1:18:10] on the first day of school.
>> Director Watson.
[1:18:15] » Oh my, [laughter] this is like a speed
trial. But anyway, um I want to say
[1:18:18] something about everything. So, um
facilities, um I I did get to go see Big
[1:18:24] Picture and like a miracle occurred from
the time with the hard hats. Um, and I'm
[1:18:30] going to encourage you to continue
getting input from schools that aren't
[1:18:34] quite built yet. Like I know you're
doing that is and IHS, but I just
[1:18:39] remember the time the Seamish nurse made
me come over and look at the way she
[1:18:43] couldn't monitor the kids that were sick
from the way her desk was built in. So,
[1:18:48] we have to make sure that doesn't happen
again. Um, fireworks. Oh my goodness,
[1:18:52] I'm so sorry. Um, thousands of
batteries. I struggle to replace just my
[1:18:57] own few. Um, elevator testing important
to me. Um, new hire orientation, if I
[1:19:03] got it right, it's like tour day,
learning and resource day, and equity
[1:19:07] day. Um, fantastic. Uh, lunch. I had no
idea there was so many exactly that
[1:19:13] qualified for the for the electronic
benefits. But that sun bucks thing,
[1:19:18] that's so nice you streamlined that in
there. Um, and I like that you're
[1:19:22] working with new foods and a video on
building a lunch because
[1:19:28] my family members over time have been so
confused about that. So, that's really I
[1:19:32] mean, it's not always apparent what what
comes with what. And anyway, um, safety.
[1:19:39] Um, the uh you know what, I like that
you trained the Boys and Girls Club. I
[1:19:45] also like that you update the incident
response manual and that I don't know,
[1:19:49] you know, that's near to my heart. You
know, I told you I took a training
[1:19:53] course with Redmond PD on that and um
keeping that up to date. That's great.
[1:19:58] Um yes, and inventorying these those
AEDs and making sure they work. Uh
[1:20:03] technology, that's an heck of a lot of
student devices. Um, and uh, I, you
[1:20:09] know, I think you all you do something a
little extra that you might get away
[1:20:13] with not doing, but having Microsoft do
an independent security review sounded
[1:20:17] sounds great. Um, and um, I really would
be interested in in what you're going to
[1:20:23] say about the guidelines for AI. I'm
assuming that's for staff using AI. Um,
[1:20:28] and uh, volunteer matters. My question
is going to be, can I use it today? Is
[1:20:34] it fully operational? Um, that's what I
want to know. And, um, buses, don't
[1:20:40] cross I90 and 200 more riders. Um, I
know it's difficult, but man, I think
[1:20:45] Metro sometimes pulls the rug out from
under us and that's kind of hard to work
[1:20:50] around. So, I know you're working on
that welcome center, all those um, new
[1:20:54] enrollments, you know, in this time of
decloning enrollment. Didn't quite
[1:20:58] expect that. Um, and the it's a pretty
large number of Mckin Vento. And I'm
[1:21:04] wondering if are the are the language
accent access translator devices working
[1:21:10] any better than they used to cuz
remember the time I sat with the live
[1:21:13] Spanish translator and the thing was
giving me garbled the device, you know,
[1:21:17] I could compare what the person said to
the device and it was not good. And um,
[1:21:22] I really like the way you got I the
international community health to come
[1:21:26] do the vaccination. Phew. Okay,
>> Director Kovanski.
[1:21:33] » All right. Um, I I I've said this
before. Uh, I'll say it again. Coming
[1:21:38] from uh not coming from uh education
background, not being involved in uh the
[1:21:44] either the teaching side, administration
side, you don't realize how much how the
[1:21:50] incredible amount of work that happens
behind the scenes uh until you're
[1:21:54] involved or you're a board member. and
it is an incredible amount of work. Uh
[1:21:58] so very much appreciated. Um
it is uh it is uh seen every day but not
[1:22:05] necessarily um comment down or
recognized. Um so um I want to call that
[1:22:10] out explicitly. Uh it is an incredible
amount of work that happens um behind
[1:22:16] the scenes. Um
uh I also want to comment on um Dr.
[1:22:24] Sanchez based on my Seamish visit,
toilets can be super exciting.
[1:22:29] [laughter]
>> Got it.
[1:22:30] » So, very excited uh about that. I know
Samish was uh as well. Um few things I
[1:22:37] heard uh just that uh highlighting this
kind of incredible amount of work uh
[1:22:43] moving a school in a weekend. I I can
barely move a house in a weekend. So,
[1:22:48] that that's that's incredible. Um
[1:22:54] the um I I wanted to also uh um I guess
highlight the the training and the um
[1:23:01] the new uh new staff onboarding and
particularly um the uh three-part
[1:23:07] agenda, the three days and and
particularly the last day because I
[1:23:10] think it uh was previously said just
making sure we align with our um our uh
[1:23:17] uh equity guidelines and and our our um
uh annual plans. I think that's very
[1:23:22] important and it's showing that it's
operationalized. So, uh I want to
[1:23:26] highlight that um highlight that as
well. Um another thing that struck me
[1:23:30] that I I wanted to kind of bring up is
uh the the um multiple partnerships that
[1:23:36] are seen within all the different tracks
of work. So whether it was security with
[1:23:39] the the um uh uh boys and and girls club
uh or working with the city of Belleview
[1:23:46] um technology and working with Microsoft
and our welcome centers um it it
[1:23:50] highlights that it's not even just the
the staff behind the scenes, but it's it
[1:23:55] needs to be done in partnership.
Sometimes that's a beneficial
[1:23:58] partnership. Sometimes it's more
challenging like a metro transit
[1:24:02] sometimes making things a little bit
more difficult uh for us but we're we
[1:24:07] live in that ecosystem and and I I love
to see that it's being leveraged um and
[1:24:11] that that is fantastic to hear a few
questions um the volunteer um uh topic
[1:24:18] came up so just understanding further uh
how ready or how close we are on that uh
[1:24:24] and then I just had a question on the AL
um digital academy I think platform form
[1:24:28] or um just understanding what that uh
what that was. I just hadn't hadn't um
[1:24:35] looked into in depth.
>> Yeah.
[1:24:40] » Uh Dr. Aramaki, do you have any
comments?
[1:24:43] » Yeah, great questions. I think what
we'll do is try to compile some of them
[1:24:46] and send it out on Friday. Um I wanted
to just make two comments. One is I just
[1:24:50] want to say thank you to the leaders
sitting before us and to the teams that
[1:24:54] they represent. I mean, I think being in
the ops departments is thankless
[1:24:59] sometimes. You don't get the, you know,
the beginning of the year gifts from
[1:25:03] kids and stuff like that. So, it's they
don't always get thanked. Um, but they
[1:25:08] are absolutely extraordinary. I mean,
operational excellence happens in
[1:25:11] Belleview. Um, and it's not felt and
that's what makes it so amazing is it
[1:25:16] just they just make sure things happen.
Um, sometimes they do get a thank you
[1:25:21] and I just want to call out so I could
say something about each one of them,
[1:25:25] but uh, we got an email uh, in kind of
Doug's world and there was a a Bellev
[1:25:31] school district family who was at the
bite of Seattle during the the shooting
[1:25:36] and they sent an email just relaying
kind of the trauma of being there and
[1:25:42] how the dad was paralyzed and didn't
know what to do but his two kids to go
[1:25:48] to the Belvy school district. They knew
exactly what to do in that moment and
[1:25:53] grabbed him, took him where he needed to
go. And he in his email, I mean, it's
[1:25:58] extraordinary thing because he's
basically like
[1:26:02] he's always felt uncomfortable with our
kids going through all of these like
[1:26:06] active shooter trainings and stuff. And
it's like, why do kids have to do that?
[1:26:09] But dog always says like we do that not
just to train kids about how to handle
[1:26:15] active shooters in schools, but how to
handle that kind of situation in any
[1:26:19] public space. So we want our kids to be
prepared for what might happen. And this
[1:26:25] parent said like he's a believer. He's
so thrilled. I mean we require these
[1:26:30] trainings in our schools every single
year. Um, sometimes people wonder like
[1:26:34] we have to do it again, but it is like
it's not essential until it's essential.
[1:26:39] But there could be a thank you like that
for each one of the people here, but
[1:26:42] that one we got over the summer and I
was like, you know, we've always said we
[1:26:46] want to be the gold standard in safety
and security. Doug leads that team, but
[1:26:50] it is really, really awesome. And each
one of the people here does that level
[1:26:54] of service for the school district, not
always thanked. So anyways, thank you
[1:26:58] all for your service to the school
district. Awesome.
[1:27:02] Yeah, really appreciate your time and
look forward to responses to some of the
[1:27:06] questions on Friday.
>> Right. Thank you very much.
[1:27:14] » Oh, we have more board business.
[snorts]
[1:27:18] Um, the next item is the approval of the
2027 legislative priorities. Uh, do we
[1:27:25] have a motion?
[1:27:30] I move to approve the 2026 well 27
legislative priorities.
[1:27:36] » I second.
[1:27:40] » Uh I hope we'll get them on the screen
here in a second. Monica, can you put
[1:27:43] the document on the screen? So now we'll
go to discussion. Um
[1:27:51] I think we can just bounce around for
this one if that's okay with everybody.
[1:27:55] Um so I know there were a couple of
changes. Uh, Mr. Harrison, do you want
[1:28:00] to let us know about the changes to the
legislative priorities
[1:28:06] since the last time we saw this
document?
[1:28:08] » We don't want to bug you or anything,
but
[1:28:17] yes. So um since Monday I will when you
saw this uh document last um based on
[1:28:26] your feedback from Monday we've made
several uh changes. The first one there
[1:28:30] is in the first paragraph my eyes are
deceiving me. I don't have my glasses. I
[1:28:34] believe it's line four.
Um and you see the changes in track
[1:28:40] changes. um the word basic education
that was um suggested that that not be
[1:28:47] included because that's not what it says
in the constitution. So I dropped it and
[1:28:52] replaced it with K12 which is a little
bit more specific. Um and moving along
[1:28:58] the
next change the the the the big three
[1:29:04] plus one there were no changes there.
this this section here under um
[1:29:10] technology
uh in the classroom. I rewarded it um to
[1:29:17] try and capture the conversation. It was
a little bit there were the conversation
[1:29:22] was basically does that strike the right
balance in terms of what we're trying to
[1:29:26] accomplish here between you know
balancing uh and honoring and protecting
[1:29:31] the the the classroom environment as
well as the safety of students and the
[1:29:36] distractions that um technology can can
pose. Um, so you can read that change uh
[1:29:43] there. And then the final change is in
the section titled learning assistance
[1:29:50] program. I'm amazed I'm doing as well as
I can because I can't see all that well.
[1:29:53] Um, but there was conversation around
the predis it used to say predislexia
[1:29:59] screening and we talked about other
screening that we that we do. So, I
[1:30:04] replaced predislexia with um early
literacy and uh math screening and I
[1:30:10] believe that's the totality of the
changes board.
[1:30:15] » Thank you. I'm just going to review for
the benefit of the record. You know, the
[1:30:18] legislative priorities are primarily our
primary one is funding and um we have as
[1:30:24] as reflected four principal goals. uh
the fully and so amply funding material
[1:30:30] supplies and operating costs, special
education, student transportation and
[1:30:34] substitute costs. And then we'd
identified a number of additional
[1:30:37] legislative priorities including around
technology in the classroom, learning
[1:30:42] assistance program, which is um early uh
childhood education, preschool, prek, uh
[1:30:48] student well-being and mental health,
graduation requirements that reflect a
[1:30:52] well-rounded education and affordable
workforce housing. So with that, I will
[1:30:57] go to additional discussion.
[1:31:02] Anyone have anything? Just we're just
going to popcorn. So um I I'll go first.
[1:31:08] Um since I brought up the ask for the
change for the technology in classroom.
[1:31:13] Um I appreciate the attempt here but I
still think it doesn't capture what I
[1:31:19] have asked for which is I think and this
is the unfortunate part of the because
[1:31:25] of all the discourse that is happening
nationally and locally around
[1:31:29] technologies specifically cell phone and
I AI um the natural tendency is the con
[1:31:38] consuming of material through those uh
uh entities or um but not necessarily
[1:31:45] using it as a safety tool
um the cell phone as a safety tool. And
[1:31:52] I do want to make sure that we capture
that because unless we capture it here,
[1:31:57] it won't be thought of.
[1:32:02] And so I I I if we could put maybe after
student safety
[1:32:08] um
[1:32:12] in a bracket not just the consumption of
uh I don't know
[1:32:19] using it uh making sure that we
safeguard our students safety
[1:32:26] through
I don't know I can't think of a right
[1:32:29] phrase but maybe it's something with
within bracket to give an example of but
[1:32:34] I do think it is important that we
identify it here. Um language matters
[1:32:40] um being specific matters. If we ignore
this the the nuance which uh does when
[1:32:47] it's not addressed in places like this
then we're redlining our students um
[1:32:52] from access to education because their
safety is of concern especially when
[1:32:57] they're using it as a safety tool.
[1:33:03] Um, Director Mlin.
>> Um, it's funny. I was going to use the
[1:33:09] exact same example but in the other
direction. I actually think it's a
[1:33:12] little light now on the actual original
intent which was to uh make it um
[1:33:18] something a tool that we want to put
some restrictions on. Um, however, not
[1:33:23] enough to change it. what I what I was
going to say I I think a productive
[1:33:28] learning environment is vague and I
think that for legislative work that's
[1:33:34] actually a positive. So in this case um
I actually think that the word safety is
[1:33:39] vague and can be uh advocated on since
that's the point of our legislative
[1:33:44] priorities is what we can um weigh in
on. And I think that also creating a
[1:33:50] productive uh learning environment is
vague enough that we can advocate on it.
[1:33:55] So um as I understand it and please
correct me if I'm wrong that this is so
[1:33:59] that we can weigh in pro or con rather
than just other. So if that's the case
[1:34:04] then I'm actually I was going to applaud
you on that language because it's vague
[1:34:08] but still shows that we are caring about
a productive learning environment and
[1:34:12] safety. And so those two things are
mentioned and we can then if we get too
[1:34:16] specific, you know, if we say cell
phones or it needs, you know, bodily
[1:34:20] harm, then we're limiting what we can
weigh in on. And so I was actually going
[1:34:24] to say that I appreciated the new
verbiage.
[1:34:33] » Additional discussion directors.
[1:34:38] » Yes.
Oh,
[1:34:40] » hey, go ahead. One of you.
>> Go ahead. Yeah,
[1:34:45] » you're still scratchy.
>> All right. Um,
[1:34:49] yeah, I think the kind of reiterating uh
what um director Mley mentioned just to
[1:34:55] set the context as well for for the
community. this the the priorities here
[1:34:59] help guide I guess how we can and
correct me if I'm wrong here but how we
[1:35:03] can um uh publicize or make public our
position right whether we whether the
[1:35:10] district is or um our representative is
testifying and can say pro or con um
[1:35:16] needs to follow along what we've
officially approved and documented
[1:35:20] within our within our priorities and so
I I I do agree as I was reading the
[1:35:24] technology um the the The way we were
looking at it originally uh was from a
[1:35:30] um do no harm perspective. So basically
what we hear I think more so in the in
[1:35:35] the national discourse right now um for
technology and I think it's softened
[1:35:39] from that based on some of the concerns
we had earlier the week because there
[1:35:42] are trade-offs in going that way. Uh,
but I do think the lang the intention of
[1:35:46] the language is the more vague it is,
the the more it allows us to actually uh
[1:35:53] not pigeon hole us into a particular
position that that prevents us from
[1:35:57] being able to speak to it. So, I think
it uh I I agree that I think it softens
[1:36:02] maybe the original statement, but I
think it still reads in a way um that
[1:36:07] allows us to uh take both those sides or
take a position on technology
[1:36:11] application without without explicitly
calling out all those examples. Um, and
[1:36:18] the uh the other thing I I I want to
kind of encourage u folks as they're
[1:36:22] looking through this um I commented
earlier in the week is I I really like
[1:36:26] that it represents u uh numbers behind
uh some of our priorities and and what
[1:36:31] the gaps are uh for uh the community to
see as well as they're looking through
[1:36:36] this um and to to help formulate and
drive some talking points around that as
[1:36:41] they're talking to to legislators. Um,
and I, you know, I just, I encourage us
[1:36:47] to continue doing that as we, as we, um,
uh, present this type of documentation.
[1:36:52] But those are the kind the main comments
I want to make.
[1:36:59] » Director Watson.
>> Well, um, [clears throat]
[1:37:02] I'm trying to study a document here that
I received from, um, YouthLink last
[1:37:08] night. They had, um, I was going to tell
you in the board comments, but it's
[1:37:12] relevant here. They had a interest fair
for the subcommittees that they create
[1:37:16] and um I noticed that at one of the
tables they had set up there was
[1:37:20] something about the graduation
requirements which relates to graduation
[1:37:24] requirements on our on our thing and um
actually from reading their document
[1:37:29] it's hard for me to tell but I I I got
the idea there was a a lot of students
[1:37:33] had signed their name in interest in
this so that's the number one point and
[1:37:37] they want to advocate around the
graduation requirements I thought from
[1:37:41] what I saw with the materials that they
were presenting that they're worried
[1:37:44] about the reduction of the ability to
take arts and electives
[1:37:50] given like the new proposals. But I
can't be 100% clear because the way they
[1:37:55] worded their head the handout it's uh
whatever. But the ma my main point is
[1:38:00] students care about this and um I think
the point is they want the freedom to be
[1:38:05] able to take electives and not be tied
into
[1:38:09] something more.
[1:38:14] That's all I had to say.
>> Yeah. Um
[1:38:18] I I think I support the legislative
priorities u as written unless we have a
[1:38:25] specific proposed uh amendment to the
language. Um and uh I think that it does
[1:38:32] provide a highle summary. I always have
a little anxiety when we try to nuance
[1:38:37] every specific issue because then the
list just keeps getting added to. We end
[1:38:42] up finding all the exceptions and all
the details. And uh I think the
[1:38:49] statement there on technology in the
classroom captures kind of the three
[1:38:52] main uh concerns that we talked about
which were um avoiding distraction in
[1:38:57] the classroom, maintaining student
safety and supporting student health. um
[1:39:02] so that that we have a productive
learning environment. Um if there are if
[1:39:07] there if there is specific language um
you know I I'm open to considering an
[1:39:12] amendment but um that's the point that
we're at. We would need to have specific
[1:39:16] language so that we can consider it and
uh and do that where we're voting on
[1:39:21] this as proposed.
>> Director RS.
[1:39:25] » Yeah. I I would like to suggest that
[clears throat] we add in maybe in um
[1:39:31] parenthesis an example of of how safety
is identified. The reason I am keep
[1:39:38] pushing this is I understand we want to
keep it a high level but the reality is
[1:39:41] this is a document that we're going to
share with our legislators and unless it
[1:39:45] is specifically talked to and it is
written that it keeps it in forefront of
[1:39:50] their mind they're not going to address
the the nuance and when we talk about
[1:39:55] each and every student needs being
addressed making sure that we're
[1:40:00] actually providing a safe environment
for every student we have to think about
[1:40:03] the students who are chronically bullied
and If we don't go into the nuances of
[1:40:10] and understand the students who use cell
phones or technology to safeguard
[1:40:15] themselves and acknowledge that here it
will never be acknowledged because
[1:40:21] majority of the people who are in the
legislative space will not be thinking
[1:40:24] about that and majority of people who
write this don't have that experience.
[1:40:29] So it is I think it is imperative that
we put yeah it may be more lengthy and
[1:40:34] it won't be as smooth or um but it is
important that we put some kind of
[1:40:39] language that identifies
beyond what is the average normal
[1:40:45] conversation in media that people are
talking about which is how cell phone is
[1:40:50] being destructive because it's not
always destructive it is also a safety
[1:40:54] tool
>> and directors I'll repeat If you have a
[1:40:59] specific amendment proposal, I invite
>> Can we put it as if they if the as I
[1:41:05] said in parentheses, if you're going to
put student safety, maybe use it as a
[1:41:11] » um
>> your proposed amendment is in line 71
[1:41:14] after the word safety, a parenthetical
that states
[1:41:18] » um that
[sighs and gasps]
[1:41:22] student safety
[1:41:28] through.
Hold on a second. That's not the best.
[1:41:31] The way it's phrased right now, you it
doesn't allow parenthesis.
[1:41:36] » May I make a suggestion? Um
because we've we've done this we've done
[1:41:42] this a couple times before at your with
your feedback and your suggestion,
[1:41:45] director, ours,
>> is in line 72 where it says u m you know
[1:41:49] line 71 maintains student safety,
supports and mental health students. If
[1:41:54] we were to add before students uh of
each and every student, would that help
[1:42:00] move us a little bit closer to what
you're suggesting?
[1:42:07] » Yeah, that would that would encourage
more of that. Yes.
[1:42:12] If if that is the case, I would like to
uh suggest that with the uh the
[1:42:19] priorities we consider doing uh adding
additional document
[1:42:27] » that gives examples of of these that is
separate from the priorities.
[1:42:33] I move we make an amendment that adds
the words each and every student after
[1:42:39] online what is now 72 uh yes 72
well-being of each and every student and
[1:42:47] replacing the word students.
[1:42:52] » Is there a second?
>> Yeah, I second.
[1:42:59] » All those in favor of
>> is there discussion? Oh, is there
[1:43:02] discussion on the amendment?
>> Wait.
[1:43:06] » Yeah.
>> Was your suggestion be after the
[1:43:10] maintains and before the students in 71
or the 72?
[1:43:14] » It's at the end of this
>> sentence 72.
[1:43:17] » What um director Mlin said was what I
was thinking.
[1:43:20] » Okay.
[1:43:25] So, if I understand correctly, the the
line would read uh guidance that ensures
[1:43:30] a productive learning environment that
maintains student safety and supports
[1:43:34] the mental health and well-being of each
and every student. Period. If that's the
[1:43:40] proposed amended language.
>> So,
[1:43:45] I'm I'm taking um Director Aris's point
kind of seriously. I do like the way
[1:43:51] like it's vague and we can we can lobby
both aspects, but I think she's right
[1:43:56] that you won't really know what we're
talking about. And um what maybe Jane
[1:44:01] and I are talking about, but um
I feel I I you know, could we I don't
[1:44:07] know footnote because I'm I'm writing
another sentence here that says after
[1:44:11] after that whole paragraph, for example,
cell phones could be used to document
[1:44:15] and prevent bullying or can contribute
to
[1:44:20] harm or something like that. You know,
making it explicit. proposing an an
[1:44:26] » well I'm I what I'm proposing is that
some other board member react to what I
[1:44:30] just say before we write a thing up.
>> I I appreciate that. [clears throat]
[1:44:36] » Um
>> I can accept a friendly amendment if
[1:44:40] somebody has a specific change.
>> I I'm just unclear whether I
[1:44:44] » I'm open to considering a footnote for
for that section that has a statement
[1:44:48] like that. I I think it it uh it does
add clarity. I I understand I think what
[1:44:54] uh director RS is trying to say and
where I was struggling with is how to
[1:44:57] how to insert it in a meaningful way. Um
I you know in my mind it was in the
[1:45:03] safety area we could say including uh
students abilities to uh interrupt uh uh
[1:45:11] harm and and and bullying through you
know use of technology. Um
[1:45:17] » I I kind of like the word document in
there only because
[1:45:21] » document's a useful word.
>> Yeah. Um so yeah, a little one and then
[1:45:26] somewhere along on the bottom maybe.
>> Well,
[1:45:30] » if I'm as the maker of the amendment in
my hearing that you would add
[1:45:38] on line 71 that maintains student
what you said it nicely.
[1:45:45] student safety, including uh the ability
to document and erupt and interrupt
[1:45:52] » uh harm.
>> Uh if that's if you are putting that in
[1:45:56] as an amendment, I can accept that as a
friendly amendment, meaning we don't
[1:45:59] have to vote on it. We have to still
vote on the amendment, but we don't have
[1:46:02] to vote.
>> I offer that as a friendly amendment if
[1:46:04] if the parties
>> second that
[1:46:06] » like that.
>> Can we read it through?
[1:46:09] » I I'll agree with it, but I just want to
know what
[1:46:11] » Yeah. Did anyone write the whole thing?
Um, I think it would read uh that
[1:46:16] ensures a productive learning
environment that maintains student
[1:46:20] safety,
including the ability for students to
[1:46:24] document and interrupt harm and supports
the mental health and well-being of each
[1:46:29] and every student.
>> Second that.
[1:46:35] » Okay. Well, now I'm now that I'm like um
so my concern is that now we've gone
[1:46:41] completely away from the harm that the
technology can and does do. And so now
[1:46:47] we've completely made this only about
the whole sentence now has changed to be
[1:46:51] completely about people being allowed to
interrupt bullying etc. which is
[1:46:57] important but is not the actual main
thing that we're trying to weigh in on.
[1:47:01] I feel like we still we need to
either pull back a little or bring up
[1:47:08] the fact that there is harm. I I did
like the idea that you had both before
[1:47:12] and so um I would want to vote on that
then because I I don't think it serves
[1:47:17] its purpose anymore with that.
>> I
[1:47:21] was speaking out of turn here. Okay. I I
was going to suggest if we if instead of
[1:47:26] including it's recogniz like we we have
a par a parenthetical that says
[1:47:31] recognizing that it can be used to
document and interrupt harm. So it's not
[1:47:38] » as well as produce harm so that it has
both.
[1:47:41] » Okay. So same thing that he said is what
this amendment [laughter] is but in
[1:47:47] parentheses. Thank you. Um the oh
goodness I remember that maintain
[1:47:52] student safety recognizing that
what did you say somebody should be
[1:47:58] writing this down I
>> that technology can be used to document
[1:48:01] and interrupt harm
>> as well as cause harm.
[1:48:05] » Yes.
>> Yes. So that I can accept. My my comment
[1:48:11] is not scientific because I haven't done
a survey, but my sense is that 90% of
[1:48:18] the of the cases are
reducing your attention span, online
[1:48:23] bullying, all those harms, and 10% of
the cases are being able to document
[1:48:28] that somebody's been harassing you.
>> Um, so,
[1:48:33] » okay. So, if I've accept that, accepted
that, now we need to talk about the
[1:48:37] amendment. [laughter]
[1:48:40] So is there additional discussion on the
uh
[1:48:46] » the revised
>> on the revised amendment?
[1:48:53] » My understanding is the amendment has
already been moved and seconded. So we
[1:48:57] can go to a vote. All those in favor
vote I.
[1:49:00] » I. I.
>> All those opposed vote nay.
[1:49:05] » The eyes have it.
>> Thank you. The amendment is passed.
[1:49:10] Now,
um we move to vote on the overall
[1:49:16] proposal.
>> Second.
[1:49:19] » Um so, all those in favor of approving
the amended legislative priorities
[1:49:24] proposal, please vote I.
>> I.
[1:49:27] » I.
>> I. All those opposed, vote nay. The eyes
[1:49:31] have it. The amended legislative
priorities proposal is now passed. Thank
[1:49:35] you for your patience as we work through
words smmithing that
[1:49:38] » I had a closing comment. Uh this is an
example of us being collegial. It's very
[1:49:43] good.
>> I was going to say thank you for your
[1:49:46] collaboration and uh support. appreciate
it
[1:49:49] » and I appreciate the extra due diligence
that everyone put into really thinking
[1:49:53] about that 10% as you did because I
think when we it's really that this is
[1:50:00] the kind of work that we have to do to
make sure that we're really addressing
[1:50:03] the each and every
>> and thank goodness we record the meeting
[1:50:06] because otherwise [laughter]
we'll never be able to figure out what
[1:50:10] we just approved. And if anyone doubts
that we make our decisions in public,
[1:50:14] here's your clear and unambiguous
evidence that we do. Thank you. All
[1:50:19] right. So, now we will go to uh board uh
director discussion. Um we will keep it
[1:50:25] at three minutes, but if you can go a
little faster, that would be great. Um I
[1:50:31] lost track of my speaker sequence. Oh,
Joy, it looks like I'm first again. So,
[1:50:35] I will go first and try to set an
example. Um, so since the last time we
[1:50:39] got together, the curriculum nights have
started at many of the elementary
[1:50:43] schools and also happened at my own high
school just the other night. Uh, it was
[1:50:47] great to see teachers. It's really
fantastic to see those. I know that
[1:50:50] there's a lot of effort um staying late.
It I watching the teachers walk out of
[1:50:55] there at 8:30 p.m. and knowing they need
to be back there at 7:30 or or 8 the
[1:51:00] next morning. I know that that's a
challenge, but it is greatly appreciated
[1:51:02] by parents, speaking for myself as well
as a lot of the other parents who were
[1:51:07] happy to keep talking well past 8:30
last night. Um, I also had the wonderful
[1:51:13] chance to go with our school uh
international school on their high
[1:51:17] school retreat. So, international school
does a lot of forming and norming at the
[1:51:21] beginning of the school year and uh we
went to the Warm Beach site. I wisely or
[1:51:28] or or not uh made the offer to teach one
of the six sessions that we did. Um no
[1:51:35] other parents did that. So it was myself
and five teachers. Um and I got the
[1:51:40] experience of teaching 48 students per
section. Um six times in a row uh
[1:51:45] including three consecutive classes
where we did no break in between which
[1:51:48] was not my favorite. um 45 minute
sessions and it is an experience and
[1:51:53] these were uh motivated uh excited
interested kids working in in a
[1:51:59] non-traditional project-based thing. Um
so I just wanted to reflect that I've
[1:52:03] had that experience and it and it is an
experience uh trying to move around a
[1:52:07] room. I had to keep getting check tables
out of the room uh after I did the first
[1:52:11] session just so I could move around um
and make that work. And so I I
[1:52:15] appreciate that that is a challenge and
that that is um something that that we
[1:52:19] all all would love to have smaller
classes. Um also uh had PTSA council for
[1:52:27] the all the PTSAs in the city had their
first meeting on Monday. Um a lot of
[1:52:33] beginning of the year uh things going
on. Um reports from uh a lot of the same
[1:52:39] groups that we see here. uh the
superintendent, myself, BEA, um Freedom
[1:52:44] Johnson gave a presentation on uh uh
language which was great to see um and
[1:52:50] improve the understanding of the
community of some of the reason the why
[1:52:53] behind some of the actions we do.
I also want to reflect just briefly that
[1:52:59] there are some things happening in the
schools around us and beyond us um that
[1:53:05] are noteworthy. Uh Dr. Kamaki noted
that, you know, enrollment continues to
[1:53:08] be a challenge for all school districts
and it looks like Olympia and Bellingham
[1:53:13] are currently exploring potential school
closures or consolidations and we're
[1:53:17] also seeing um more districts enter
potential binding conditions with I
[1:53:22] think four that have joined since June
of this year. Um and so those are all
[1:53:27] things that are going to continue to to
to ricochet. Those are also
[1:53:32] opportunities where Belleview will
probably be highlighted as an example
[1:53:36] one way or the other um with some of
those since we've gone through both
[1:53:39] those experiences. Thanks.
Uh next is
[1:53:46] Director Miklin.
>> Uh I just wanted to say a big thank you
[1:53:51] to the finance and operating leadership
and all of their teams. So much goes on
[1:53:55] to give our kids reading, writing, and
arithmetic. So, please please parents as
[1:53:59] you um are coming back keep in mind all
the hard work that goes into it and all
[1:54:04] of the personnel because that is
something that we sometimes forget
[1:54:07] about. Uh I helped with laptop
distribution this year. It was every
[1:54:12] single student. I was at Inner Lake High
School and it was an amazing job, the
[1:54:15] organization, the amount of laptops that
went back out to those kids. So, kudos
[1:54:20] to the tech departments. Uh thank you to
Alex, our Seamish High School student
[1:54:25] who spoke earlier very uh very nicely.
Um finance, thank you for pulling out in
[1:54:30] our consent agenda. There's lots of
things that people don't necessarily
[1:54:33] look at, but I wanted to apprec throw
out some appreciation for uh pulling out
[1:54:37] some very high expenses that we were
voting on and I appreciated that those
[1:54:40] were brought to our attention in the
notes and that was helpful. Also wanted
[1:54:44] to thank Linquist and Cornfell for their
generous donation. Thanks to our DAC
[1:54:48] reps who have been serving with the
district. um they served for several
[1:54:52] years, some of them, and are all
continuing this year. So, thank you all
[1:54:54] for the hard work you do um for our
appeals council. Uh congrats to our high
[1:54:59] schools. This is very exciting about the
US News and World Report. Congrats to
[1:55:03] our national merit scholarships and
semi-finalists. I remember being one a
[1:55:06] million years ago and it is very
exciting. Congratulations to your all
[1:55:09] your hard work. Um I'd like to also
throw out some information on some of
[1:55:13] our partners. Uh very excited about the
gumbo night for youth link. Rainineer
[1:55:17] athletes had uh prepped 27 new mentors.
It is the highest amount of new mentors
[1:55:22] that they have ever prepped in the month
of August to prepare for this new year
[1:55:25] and more kiddos that we can um assist
and mentor and it's very exciting. They
[1:55:30] have a wonderful program. If you get a
chance to ever be a mentor or have any
[1:55:34] interest, please go to their website.
Eastside Pathways is excited to be uh
[1:55:38] renewing and reviewing their uh
strategic plan. So, that's going to have
[1:55:42] a great deal of of excitement to it. Uh,
one thing that I'm involved in is the
[1:55:46] Belleview Police Foundation is holding a
protect and connect brunch and it is
[1:55:50] about teen and tween safety. So,
specifically covering internet,
[1:55:55] e-mobility devices like ebikes and and
scooters and vehicles. So, if you have
[1:56:00] any in uh any desire to go to that is a
free uh brunch. It is a fundraiser, I'm
[1:56:04] sure, but um the there is no cost to
attend. And so, if you want some
[1:56:09] information on that, they are a good
partner. Uh, and they'll be doing that I
[1:56:13] think October 6th. Uh, and then I just
sort of want to um take the last few
[1:56:18] seconds to talk about uh, as uh,
President Block mentioned, we have more
[1:56:23] and more um, districts going to binding
conditions all across the state. We are
[1:56:28] having problems in terms of financing.
So, please families, please partner with
[1:56:33] us, partner with your PTAs, partner with
our uh uh education associations,
[1:56:38] Belleview and all of the cities that
that are surrounding us. Please partner
[1:56:42] and advocate to the state of Washington
that we need to amply fund K12
[1:56:46] education. Thank you,
>> Director Watson.
[1:56:52] » Okay. Well, I'm going to go on about
YouthLink for another minute um since
[1:56:56] that's uh who I'm leazing with. So gumbo
night's been covered. Um they had a
[1:57:02] retreat last Saturday that I um attended
where the students get to know each
[1:57:08] other. But was was kind of of note to me
was that um not only was the city
[1:57:12] council member there, but a number of um
like the city manager and other um
[1:57:17] important people from the city were
there um to meet the kids and talk to
[1:57:21] them. Um they also had a regular meeting
and um they always want a report from
[1:57:26] the school board for about 10 minutes of
what we're doing. So I try to tailor
[1:57:30] that to everything that's of interest in
to high school kids. And then this
[1:57:34] interest fair that I was talking about.
So they they very enthusiastically gave
[1:57:38] me handouts and stuff, but I turned
those into um Monica Namela so she can
[1:57:43] turn them back because I I don't know. I
may have an exemption, but there's
[1:57:47] something about give the papers over
there. So now I can't tell you what was
[1:57:51] on the papers um other than um somewhat
I can remember the examples of the
[1:57:56] committees that they the kids were
interested in putting together the
[1:57:59] environmental and um the leader there uh
Patrick Alina said it was really good I
[1:58:04] mentioned how well that seemed to go
last year because he wants the kids to
[1:58:08] know that they're having an impact. Um
there's also someone they're interested
[1:58:12] in maybe working with veterans um and
the graduation requirement thing that I
[1:58:16] mentioned previously and then youth
responsible AI action team they're
[1:58:22] trying to put together. So I will uh at
risk of being out of order hand the
[1:58:26] paper over. Um and um and then I also
wanted to comment on volunteerism with
[1:58:34] our high school students because this
has really touched me personally in the
[1:58:38] last week. you know, um I have my dad in
the local Evergreen Court um assisted
[1:58:45] living and I have noticed over the years
um Belleview High students coming in and
[1:58:51] a lot a lot of times they come in and
they um do orchestra concerts and things
[1:58:55] and I really appreciate that. But
yesterday I just had the most delightful
[1:58:59] encounter with a Belleview High School
student who had done her CNA, which is
[1:59:06] certified nursing assistant. And I said,
"Oh, did you do it with Newport?" And
[1:59:10] she said, "No, I I figured out how to go
to Belleview College and and get the
[1:59:13] courses I need and I'm here doing my V."
She was so great. She just came into me
[1:59:21] and worked with me and my dad to get
him, you know, up and ready and out to a
[1:59:27] birthday lunch that they were having in
the facility, you know, which it was,
[1:59:30] you know, his birthday. So,
I just I'm just amazed by the quality of
[1:59:37] work that our high school volunteers can
do and kudos to Belleview High. You guys
[1:59:42] really have helped me out.
[1:59:48] » Director Clanski.
>> All right. I'll try to keep this uh keep
[1:59:52] it brief. Uh but I wanted I guess I'll
start with uh Dr. Dr. Armrai opened or
[1:59:58] shared uh the the tears from parents
dropping kids off at at kindergarten. Um
[2:00:05] and I think it previously spoke about
the tears that happen when you drop your
[2:00:08] kid off at college. Um and so uh I think
I held it together at drop off, but my
[2:00:13] first real set of tears were the call we
got last night from our kid [laughter]
[2:00:16] of missing uh missing home. Um so it
it's a good book end, I guess. Uh I
[2:00:23] wanted to um uh
reiterate the achievements uh on our our
[2:00:30] high schools for uh US um uh news
recognition
[2:00:35] um on the National Honor Society as well
uh on all the work that the operations
[2:00:39] team's done um and from the report we
heard is kind of echoing that and
[2:00:43] reiterating it again. Um and then some
of the things that um we don't hear
[2:00:48] about as much uh that are some of our
high school bands performed at halftime
[2:00:53] uh uh uh this past weekend with the
Huskies. So um that's an awesome
[2:00:58] opportunity that is a I consider an
achievement for our performing arts.
[2:01:03] And um uh I I did want to comment on uh
I was able to attend uh a session uh
[2:01:10] this past week on uh kind of the
introduction or potential introduction
[2:01:14] for Hebrew language program. Um and uh
there were some comments earlier about
[2:01:19] um making sure we're uh we're thinking
about sustainable programs and and one
[2:01:24] of the things that uh struck me not
surprisingly was how thoughtful our
[2:01:28] world languages program uh and team is
around introducing those programs. um
[2:01:34] there's a lot of uh uh pressure to open
as many programs as as we can as quickly
[2:01:40] as we can to um to attract people and
there's community interest in those
[2:01:45] types of things. Uh but the team
respectfully and uh can push back and
[2:01:50] said we we want to focus on making sure
we have a program that we can grow and
[2:01:54] it's sustainable and make the best thing
we can do whatever that program is. Uh
[2:01:58] so I I I appreciated hearing that. Um
and then I I I also want to just echo
[2:02:04] the legislative priorities. Just please
get familiar with those that that is the
[2:02:08] the biggest driver for how we get um uh
the teachers that we need, the funding
[2:02:16] we need is is around advocating and uh
having those conversations with your
[2:02:21] peers, with organizations, with uh
legislators. Um and so, you know, get
[2:02:25] familiar with the the priorities that we
approved today. directors.
[2:02:34] » Okay, my list is a bit long, so I'll try
to go as fast as I can. Um, [gasps]
[2:02:39] I want to start with a world language uh
programs. I had an interesting
[2:02:42] conversation with one of our community
members and uh concerns about senior
[2:02:46] graduation requirement changing and how
the requirement will decrease, but
[2:02:52] public uh private institution will
continue to hold. And so the difference
[2:02:56] in how um how we're g how are our
students and parents going to navigate
[2:03:00] to make sure their students are ready
for not just Washington state schools
[2:03:06] but beyond. And so this is where I kind
of took a moment like we're I'm so proud
[2:03:11] of our district for offering as many
language programs because that bypasses
[2:03:16] that requirement for all of our students
who participate in the all of our um K12
[2:03:21] language programs or now middle school
high to high school language program. Um
[2:03:27] I also want to give a shout out to our I
think it's Smamage Newport and Belleview
[2:03:33] High bands that participate at the Husky
game. I got uh messages from our
[2:03:39] legislators who were there going, "Where
is Belleview here? I can't tell. There's
[2:03:43] so many." And so I had to do some little
bit of checking and found out that
[2:03:47] there's uh we had at least three um high
schools participating um in their uh the
[2:03:53] opening. I think it's the opening. Um it
was it's great to see that our students
[2:03:57] are um having those kind of
opportunities. Um I also want to talk
[2:04:02] about I attended it was sponsored by
NAMI but it was a collaboration
[2:04:08] conversation about mental health um
support uh which brought in leaders,
[2:04:15] community um partners from everything a
couple of board directors to um city
[2:04:23] council to county even Germai um our
executive uh council um King County
[2:04:28] Council was there. um and legislators
talking about how do we streamline and
[2:04:34] how do we make sure that mental health
support is as strong as it can be with
[2:04:38] the health with the decrease in funding
that's coming our direction from the
[2:04:44] federal level and downwards um some of
them being um the impact we will start
[2:04:50] uh feeling it in January because of the
Medicaid cuts for our students who are
[2:04:57] not citizens um And so and then there's
a few other rounds. So that was a really
[2:05:04] interesting conversation. I think uh we
need to continue to be part of th those
[2:05:08] type of conversations because as one of
the emphasis that was made is that the
[2:05:13] place where we need to put a lot of
effort is the K12 space.
[2:05:17] Um which goes to the unfunded mandates
that we constantly get. I will forward
[2:05:23] and share the I got a list from uh one
of our uh fellow board colleagues of we
[2:05:30] that currently there is6 unfunded
mandates since 2017 to chair.
[2:05:38] » Um just give me a couple because you
need all the rest of this information.
[2:05:41] Um so it that's a lot the 106 in in
these short few years. There's also a
[2:05:50] series of I will send you an email with
a links to all of the documents that was
[2:05:54] shared through uh the advocacy network
um through WASDA. It's a not a light
[2:06:02] reading. It's a lot but there are some
requirements regarding based upon again
[2:06:07] legislation that will be put into effect
uh soon um about um health uh it's um
[2:06:18] it's through board of health and all the
environmental health requirements for
[2:06:23] the school districts um there's about
five or six documents um I also attended
[2:06:28] the advocac uh the caucuses for general
assembly I'm not going to read you all
[2:06:33] the the titles, but I'm going to share
the numbers of all the uh
[2:06:39] all the different uh ones that has been
in conversation.
[2:06:44] Uh for the small school districts, it
was 3229 36 329 36 4259.
[2:06:53] Uh the large school caucus uh the
positions that they they talked about
[2:06:58] was um 10 19 22 30 61 53 59. Director of
color caucus was 38 50 59 63 28 30 and
[2:07:10] 53. Um I want I'm saying these because
if these are something that you feel
[2:07:15] that I need to uh take a deeper um look
into for Saturday, please let me know.
[2:07:22] The first 24 are are listed as uh
consent agenda, but there has been a lot
[2:07:29] of conversations about pulling quite a
few of those off the consent end to have
[2:07:34] a stronger discourse because of um
there's a lot of
[2:07:39] discussions that people feel that um
it needs to be pulled. So, but if there
[2:07:46] are any that you feel that as a BSD we
need to support in pulling, please let
[2:07:50] me know.
[2:07:54] Fantastic. With that, we will go to our
break. We're going to take 10 minutes
[2:07:59] and uh we will come back uh in the small
room for our study session on the edtech
[2:08:04] advisory. I think this is a prelude to
the the start of the edtech advisory
[2:08:08] design group uh in about a week. Thank
you.