[0:00] >> good evening and welcome. This regular business meeting of the edmond school district, board of directors,
[0:07] is called to order, and I will do a roll call. Director gerard?
[0:12] >> present. >> director kramer? >> present. >> director smith?
[0:16] >> present. >> director chase? >> here. >> I'm director katims, so we are complete as a board tonight.
[0:25] now, I will ask dr. Miner to do the land acknowledgment.
[0:30] >> thank you, director katims. We acknowledge the and regional inhabitants of this place,
[0:35] the [inaudible] people, and their successors, the two [inaudible] tribes,
[0:39] who since time immemorial have taken care of, hunted, fished, and gathered on these lands.
[0:45] we respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water.
[0:54] by acknowledging these homelands, we commit to working with tribal nations to further
[0:59] the education aims they have identified in our classrooms and schools.
[1:05] >> thank you. Now, if everybody, he'll rise and join me in the flag salute.
[1:17] >>
[1:33] >> next is approval of our agenda. Do I hear a motion and a second to approve our agenda as presented?
[1:40] >> move to approve. >> I second. >> I've heard a motion to approve in a second. Is there any discussion?
[1:46] hearing none, I'll call for a vote. All of those in favor of approving tonight's agenda as presented,
[1:52] please indicate by saying, aye. >> aye. >> all those oppose, nay.
[1:56] any abstentions? Tonight's agenda is approved as presented.
[2:01] next, we have the superintendent's report. >> once a year, I like to test the theory that a picture is
[2:08] worth 1,000 words and so we have a video. This was sent out to our families in the family newsletter,
[2:16] but I just wanted to take a few minutes to watch it with the board, our first days of school.
[2:56] [music]
[5:06] thank you to curtis campbell, and amanda ralston, our communications team for going out,
[5:12] taking pictures, as well as getting them from our principals to celebrate those first couple of days.
[5:18] >> thank you. That was a great welcome to everybody to the new school year.
[5:23] it's going to be a good one. Next on our agenda is approval of our minutes.
[5:28] there are three sets of minutes that we're going to vote on as a group.
[5:33] one is the minutes from the august 19, 2025 regular business meeting and one is the minutes from the august 25,
[5:42] 2025 first day of our special meeting of our board retreat,
[5:46] and the other is the minutes from the august 26, 2025 special meeting, the second night of our board retreat.
[5:55] do I hear a motion and a second to approve those three sets of minutes?
[5:59] >> I move to approve them all on mass. >> I second?
[6:04] >> I've heard a motion to approve in a second. Is there any discussion? >> just to note that I'd like to change the name of retreat to long meeting. [laughter]
[6:17] >> [background] officially. Yes. Any other comments?
[6:23] hearing none, I'll call for a vote. All those approving the three sets of meetings,
[6:31] please indicate by saying, aye. >> aye. >> all of opposed say, nay.
[6:36] any abstentions? The minutes from the august 19 regular business meeting, the august 25,
[6:43] special meeting our board retreat, and august 26, a special meeting of our board retreat are approved.
[6:49] next, we have public comments.
[6:57] the guidelines regarding public comments are on the district website on each board meeting agenda,
[7:04] and there's a copy on the table where everybody signs in to make a comment.
[7:08] we ask that you limit your comment to three minutes, please. A timer will be running so that you can monitor your time.
[7:15] please be sure to tell us,
[7:20] [noise] that wasn't like, part of this.
[7:26] [laughter] my time isn't up. [laughter] I still get.
[7:30] [laughter] please be sure to tell us your name, your city of residence,
[7:35] your relationship to the district, and the agenda item or school district topic that you're addressing tonight.
[7:41] public comments are made from this front podium facing us and are directed to the board,
[7:46] not to the audience.
[7:50] first up is josiah olson or joe olson.
[8:02] >> hi. My name is joe. I am a parent.
[8:07] I have three children here in the edmond school district. I live in linwood. I think that was all the required items.
[8:13] cool. I am here because I have
[8:18] two students in the challenge program at terrace park and a kindergartner who's starting,
[8:23] who is not yet in the challenge program, and we filled out a waiver to
[8:27] allow her to attend that school with her siblings instead of her home school.
[8:31] the busing policy previously was that transportation for students on a school waiver is not guaranteed.
[8:40] parents are responsible for transporting them. But if there is room on the bus,
[8:45] they can take the bus with their siblings. That's what my middle child did when his older sister was in kindergarten.
[8:51] that policy just changed this spring, but a number of parents just became aware of it this week as school started.
[9:00] it was changed to students on a waiver, get no transportation, no matter what.
[9:04] the parents must transport them, and even if there's space on the bus.
[9:11] this presents a hardship because now either our youngest needs to go to a home school,
[9:19] or I need to spend an hour plus of my day going their home and their home at the beginning and end of the day.
[9:27] when there is space on the bus, transportation provided our youngest student a route number and skyward.
[9:35] there are other parents who were given a route number. There is a space. But due to this new policy,
[9:43] we're basically told that seat needs to sit empty, and you need to get your kid to school.
[9:48] this is not only a hardship for the parents who are in this situation,
[9:53] it's equity issue because the parents who have the ability to take
[9:59] an hour out of their day and transport their younger siblings are the ones with those means and resources,
[10:05] and the ones who can't do that, will need to say, I'm going to have to pull my older kids from
[10:10] the challenge program so they can all go to their home school, and they can all take that same transportation.
[10:16] to me, this seems like an easy win to say, hey, and the policy on transporting the kids specifically says,
[10:26] school buses will not alter routes to transport children to school other than which they've been assigned,
[10:31] which is totally fair, saying, hey, if we don't have the room, we won't take them.
[10:37] but to me, saying, hey, we have an empty seat, and we still won't take them,
[10:41] when the resources already allocated and being used, it seems an easy win to me to say,
[10:47] we're going to go back to the old policy if we have the space. We'll take them. Thank you.
[10:56] >> next up is heather glud.
[11:07] >> good evening, members of the board, and thank you for the opportunity to speak.
[11:11] my name is heather glud, and I live in linwood, and I'm the parent of a child in the hi-cap program at terrace park elementary,
[11:19] who's in his fourth year, and a kindergartner. I'm here to also address transportation of challenged siblings this year.
[11:27] first, I want to express my gratitude that siblings were allowed to transfer to terrace park this year.
[11:34] if that had not been possible, my family would have been forced into two separate pickups and drop offs every day,
[11:40] which would have added 75 minutes to my daily transportation duties
[11:44] or required paying $625 a month for the write at school program,
[11:50] just to cover those 75 minutes of additional care that my younger child would need at
[11:54] the local school until my bust child transportation arrived.
[11:59] that burden to parents, especially working parents or single parents like myself is unsustainable,
[12:07] both in terms of time and funds. However, the new transportation policy that excludes
[12:12] siblings who transferred this year from riding the bus with their brother or sister, even when the bus route already exists and has room has caused problems for our family.
[12:25] meanwhile, siblings who transferred in prior years are still permitted to ride,
[12:29] and students whose older siblings have graduated on to middle school and no longer have any challenge student in the program are allowed to ride those buses.
[12:38] this uneven application raises serious fairness concerns. Families this year are singled out while others benefit from exceptions.
[12:45] the impact is especially harsh for families commuting from the farthest corners of the district,
[12:51] which includes some of our more socioeconomically diverse populations.
[12:55] for them, being forced to provide transportation can mean daily commutes of 90 minutes or more every single day.
[13:02] it's an impossible strain. Just sending siblings to the neighborhood school is not a real solution.
[13:10] varying school start times and transportation needs make it impossible for many parents to cover two different drop offs.
[13:16] in some cases, this will force parents to withdraw their child from the highly capable program,
[13:22] not because of academics, but because of transportation logistics. Adding to the urgency is how this policy change was communicated.
[13:30] when transfers were approved in the spring, it was not clear that the rules had changed to exclude
[13:35] siblings from transportation even when seats were available.
[13:39] families could not have anticipated this interpretation, because it is so illogical,
[13:44] it makes no sense to interpret it this way. We've also been told in the past that because this is a standard form, obviously,
[13:51] it applies when you can't transport and add additional routes, it does not apply in this case as long as seats are available.
[13:58] if we had understood it at the time, we could have addressed this policy back in the spring and had
[14:04] these conversation when there was additional time to have a fair and transparent process.
[14:08] instead, we're now scrambling in september to cope with the decision we didn't know was coming.
[14:13] [noise] thank you for your time and your continued commitment to supporting students all across our district.
[14:21] >> thank you. Next is sarah dilling.
[14:30] >> hello. My name is sarah dilling. I am a taxpayer in mount lake terrace,
[14:36] because my children no longer go here because they're both at college. Thank you.
[14:41] I've been watching in the last couple of meetings, have seen speakers speaking about
[14:47] title 9 and so I just wanted to do a little history lesson. In 1972, the educational amendments to
[14:54] update title 7 of the civil rights act of 1964 were passed, and they are called title 9.
[14:59] in june 1975, in volume 34 of the cfr in section 106.
[15:05] how it was going to happen got put into law. Since 1975, the federal government issues guidance.
[15:12] the original statute made no explicit mention of sports. It says, in the beginning,
[15:17] no person in the united states shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in,
[15:22] be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
[15:31] now, a brief timeline for transgender issues. Obama issued some guidance,
[15:36] bathroom use, which seems odd for a president to have to do, but okay.
[15:41] in 2018, the health and human services had a rollback of that policy.
[15:46] in august of 2020, a federal court found that discrimination on
[15:51] the basis of gender identity was prohibited under title 9. Then, in march of 8th of 2021,
[15:58] biden issued an executive order, 14021. June 16, 2021, the department of education had a notice of interpretation.
[16:06] in 2024, the admin school district had a policy update. In january 5th of 2025,
[16:12] a federal judge rolled back that 2021 interpretation. In february of 2025,
[16:17] the admin school district had a policy rollback. In february of 2025,
[16:22] trump issued an executive order of 14201. We haven't had the department of education notice nor the subsequent years and years of
[16:31] court challenges to determine how we should respond to this piece of the whiplash back and forth.
[16:38] also, currently, the adams county sheriff is attempting
[16:42] to comply with federal guidance on immigration in violation of washington laws.
[16:47] the washington ag is currently seeking an injunction against the adams county sheriff for violating washington laws.
[16:54] in short, I don't think that we should change our policy just now because things keep changing.
[17:00] they keep moving back and forth. I think that for our sports teams,
[17:05] it's best to stay in compliance with wiaa policies, and then washington laws and policies,
[17:11] and then federal laws and policies. I think we should focus on graduation rates rather
[17:16] than culture war distractions. Thank you.
[17:22] >> thank you. Jess grant is next.
[17:33] >> good segue. Thank you for that topical introduction.
[17:39] my name is jess grant high. I live in north edmonds,
[17:44] and I am here tonight to urge you to repeal policy 3211,
[17:50] the gender inclusive schools policy. This policy harms the girls in our district in so many ways,
[17:56] and it exposes the district to legal liability for physical injuries sustained as a result of this ill conceived policy.
[18:05] tomorrow, I'll send you a link to the website on the independent women's law center,
[18:10] a nonprofit nonpartisan 501c3, who recently published a 68 page report entitled competition,
[18:19] title 9, male athletes, and the threat to women's sports.
[18:23] >> tonight, I want to highlight the safety issues posed by a policy that allows boys to compete against girls,
[18:30] and stress how this puts everyone, both athlete and district board members,
[18:35] at physical or legal risk. Peyton mcnabb, as an ambassador for the women's law center here,
[18:41] in her own words, is the reason she now fights for fairness in women's sports.
[18:46] at september 1, 2022, I suffered permanent physical and neurological injuries
[18:53] sustained during a high school volleyball game in my junior year.
[18:57] a male athlete who identified as a female on the opposing team spiked the ball into my head,
[19:03] and I was knocked unconscious for over 30 seconds. A medical evaluation revealed that the ball's impact had caused a concussion,
[19:11] brain bleeding, and severe head and neck injuries. I continue to suffer vision problems,
[19:16] memory loss, and partial paralysis. This incident ended my aspirations of playing
[19:22] college sports and ignited my advocacy for the protection of women's sports.
[19:27] I hope that policymakers who were in a position to make athletic decisions will read
[19:33] the independent women's report and prioritize fairness and safety for all female athletes.
[19:39] now, you might think, but this hardly ever happens. You'd be surprised.
[19:45] if you go to the website one.org, you'll find a spreadsheet containing the names of
[19:50] several thousand female athletes displaced by male pretenders.
[19:55] you can also visit echetd.org to find another spreadsheet
[20:00] containing the names of males who've deprived females of their rightful athletic honors.
[20:05] to quote the harvard university biologist, carol hooven.
[20:09] "the essence of sports categories is exclusion. If you're 20 years old,
[20:14] you are excluded from participating in the senior category because of your natural advantages".
[20:20] the female category is no different. Thank you for your time.
[20:28] >> thank you. Next is vanita francisco.
[20:40] >> good evening. Vanita francisco, city of mount la terrace,
[20:44] and a parent to a student at mount la terrace high school. I have three things that I'd like to mention to you today.
[20:50] two, if I run out of time. They were all in today's family newsletter from the district.
[20:56] and so I have multiple hats that I wear, so league of women voters badge.
[21:02] we are celebrating constitution day here in the edmond school district building on september 16.
[21:09] so please join your neighbors and friends for a special celebration of us constitution day.
[21:13] the league of women voters of snohomish county and edmond school district are hosting
[21:18] a community reading of the us constitution and bill of rights at 6:00 p.m. Right here in this building.
[21:23] the event honors the 238th anniversary of the signing of the constitution,
[21:27] and constitution sorry, citizenship day, which is recognized annually on september 17.
[21:34] munity members will take turns reading these historic documents, offering everyone an opportunity to reflect on the rights and freedoms they guarantee.
[21:43] in addition to the readings, the league of women voters will provide free pocket copies,
[21:47] sized copies of the constitution, and share information on ways that you can support democracy.
[21:52] so we hope you'll come with your families. Next up is city of mount leeris diversity, equity inclusion commission.
[21:59] so the city of mount leeris, in partnership with edmonds school district, is excited to join together for welcoming week on september 20 on september 20.
[22:09] we are hosting welcoming week and annual campaign where communities across the country host events,
[22:16] educational seminars, and celebrations to honor our neighbors and of all backgrounds highlight the importance of
[22:21] inclusive places in achieving collective prosperity. These events reaffirm our values of building welcoming communities where every person,
[22:28] including refugees and immigrants can fully contribute and have their voices heard.
[22:32] so we encourage you to come and participate and see all the community resources that are available to everyone in our community.
[22:39] and there is time, so last but not least, wearing my pta council hat.
[22:44] I will say that the 17th annual mad monster dash is happening.
[22:49] so please sign up for the 5k on saturday, october 4, which will be at in mount lake terrace, as well,
[22:55] the lake ballinger area and park. So I hope to see you around before the next meeting or after that. Thanks.
[23:04] >> thank you. Next on the agenda is our consent agenda.
[23:09] this is the group of regular routine items that we can vote on and discuss together,
[23:14] or separate if we wanted to choose to separate them. Tonight's agenda has four items.
[23:19] to have to do with personnel and staff. One is an agreement with the rotary, which is wonderful.
[23:25] it's through cte, and it's our students in carpentry who,
[23:29] for something like 51 years, have built a single-family home for somebody, which is wonderful.
[23:38] and the fourth one has to do with surplusing equipment.
[23:44] do I hear a motion in a second to approve the consent agenda for tonight as presented?
[23:52] >> I'll move to approve the consent agenda.
[23:56] >> second. >> I've heard a motion to approve in a second. Is there any discussion?
[24:01] >> I had a couple of things I wanted to comment on. I want to thank the negotiators for
[24:10] the district and for the union for being able to come to a agreement on this three-year contract.
[24:20] quickly, fairly quickly. I know it's hard work,
[24:25] preparing for that and executing that negotiation,
[24:29] and they were able to have a tentative agreement by the end of june, I believe.
[24:33] and so we're happy to be able to ratify that tonight.
[24:39] and I also want to say again that the cte the carpentry.
[24:45] I have one of my former students from hilltop that was in the carpenter program last year,
[24:50] and it's just what a great thing to do to partner first,
[24:55] the partnership, build that partnership with the rotary, and to have practical learning that's
[25:02] going to benefit our community as well is just tremendous.
[25:08] >> thank you. >> I just want to comment that the rotary program really is wonderful.
[25:13] my son participated in that, and it's still in connection with a number of the other students in that program.
[25:19] >> very cool. >> really thrilled. >> very cool. Anything else? Hearing nothing else.
[25:25] I'll call for a vote. All those in favor of approving tonight's consent agenda as presented.
[25:29] please indicate by saying aye. >> aye. >> all those opposed. Any abstentions.
[25:34] and tonight's consent agenda is approved as presented. The next section is our unfinished business.
[25:41] we have item 10.1, a second reading with request for approval of new board policy 69,60.
[25:49] >> so do I hear a motion in a second to approve. Excuse me, the new board policy 69,60,
[25:56] which is regarding school attendance areas and boundary changes.
[26:00] >> move to approve. >> I'll second. >> I've heard a motion to approve in a second.
[26:05] is there any discussion? I believe this is basically the same as what we saw in the first reading,
[26:11] with one minor change. That's correct. Hearing no further discussion. I'll call for a vote.
[26:22] all those in favor of approving the new board policy 69,60 regarding school attendance areas and boundary changes,
[26:30] please indicate by saying aye. >> aye. >> all those opposed. Any abstentions.
[26:35] and the new board policy 69 60 for school attendance areas and boundary changes is approved.
[26:41] >> we have two items of new business this evening. The first is a first reading.
[26:46] no action requested at this time to review proposed changes to board policy 2110.
[26:53] >> is there any discussion on board? Excuse me.
[26:57] proposed changes to board policy 2110, which is about the transitional bilingual instructional program.
[27:06] >> I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the idea that this is
[27:11] an asset to the students to be able to be biliterate and bilingual,
[27:17] and that we should foster that ability and encourage it.
[27:26] >> I think most of the changes have to do with excuse me, explicitly,
[27:31] including as I lose my voice,
[27:36] the dual language program, which the classes I have visited have been wonderfully exciting to talk to those kids.
[27:44] in fact, I'm starting to take beginning spanish, so I can talk to them as well in spanish.
[27:51] any other comments or questions? >> you just need to go sit in the kindergarten class and immersion for a while.
[27:57] >> I learned a lot in the last. >> I know. It's drill. The instructors are amazing.
[28:03] >> I don't hearing no changes, we'll bring that forward to you for your consideration at the next meeting for
[28:09] a second reading and proposed action. The next one is 11.2, first reading,
[28:15] no action to review proposed changes to board policy 2020.
[28:20] just a little bit of background on this one that senate bill 54,
[28:24] 62 required that by august 1, school district board of directors across the state,
[28:31] amend their policies or procedures, go governing curriculum adoptions to align with the wada model policies.
[28:39] >> is there discussion on board policy 2020 on course design,
[28:44] selection, and adoption of instructional materials?
[28:51] I would like to say, I am not happy about the fact that the legislature
[28:59] is telling us what our policy should say in terms of our curriculum,
[29:06] our instruction, our design, our scope and sequence, basically.
[29:11] and talk about being removed from the classroom and trying to legislate what's going on in the classroom,
[29:20] what's happened to our local control over those things?
[29:24] I've posed some questions to doctor miner, and she's going to be doing a little bit of research
[29:30] to get a sense of what we might do to make sure that everything that is important to our district is not lost here,
[29:41] but that we somehow protect our domain,
[29:45] which it should be our domain as to what we do in the district in terms of curriculum and instructional design.
[29:51] so I just wanted to make my little speech. >> and the only other policy I'm aware of,
[29:56] in which we are required by law to adopt the wada-recommended policy, intimidation and bullying.
[30:03] and that came about some time ago, and that was the first of this,
[30:07] where we have to adopt the wada policy.
[30:11] >> and that seems almost more understandable than this,
[30:15] and that's really based in a great deal of law, whereas this is really a great deal of policy,
[30:22] school district policy and procedures.
[30:26] and we'll see what happens before the next time.
[30:33] look at us. We are on board member comments.
[30:38] moving right along. Doctor director gerard.
[30:42] >> well, I wanted to say that I was at the fara and 44th in linwood on saturday.
[30:52] so I saw dr. Sally guzman staffing our little tent booth,
[30:59] and we had a bus there as well. So I talked to that bus driver who's driven for our district for 33 years.
[31:07] very impressive. And she was being very welcoming, and lots of little kids were
[31:14] interested in climbing on the school bus. And sitting in her seat.
[31:18] the only time they get to do that. Looking forward to this coming week,
[31:25] or next week, I'll be visiting lindale elementary. I got met the principal, mr. Nwnn,
[31:32] at the fair, and so he invited me to visit.
[31:37] so I'm going to take him up on that offer next week. And then I will also be on the pitch with
[31:44] the mont lake terrace and madodale high school girls' soccer teams. So I'm looking forward to that game next week as well.
[31:54] >> thank you, director kramer. >> hi, I just want to give a huge shout-out of
[32:01] thanks and appreciation to all the classroom teachers out there, particularly the kindergarten teachers.
[32:07] they're the ones that welcome our youngest among us. And my wife is now teaching kindergarten as well,
[32:14] and she came back utterly exhausted. But excited, too, excited.
[32:21] and as I begin my first year in education,
[32:27] I want to shout out to all those teachers of
[32:32] a certain age like myself who still have a passion for what we do.
[32:37] so thank you to all of those teachers out there, and hope your first week,
[32:42] first full week back is a great one. Thank you.
[32:46] >> thank you. Director smith. >> first, I want to thank the parents who brought to
[32:53] our attention a potential issue with our bus policy. I will ask dr. Myer for some more details,
[32:58] figure out what's going on there. If it is really something as simple as just an empty seat that we can put a kid on,
[33:04] that's something as a district that we probably ought to do. So I'll make sure to follow up on that.
[33:10] you have been heard. And then I also wanted to a little self-congratulatory,
[33:15] but I wanted to give a little shout-out to the mount terrace class of 2004.
[33:20] vince dimiro sent out an e mail earlier this week, and I did not realize that we have a journalist
[33:26] basically in residence there who also came from my class, samantha pack,
[33:31] who works with the hawkeye students, and I just think that that's pretty cool that it says something about the teachers
[33:37] who were there at that time that we've got now two individuals from the class of four,
[33:41] myself and her, who are giving back to the district in very meaningful ways.
[33:45] so that's partially a shadow to us, but also to all the teachers who were there in 2004,
[33:51] who shepherded us and taught us the importance of giving back to our community.
[33:55] >> thank you. Director chase.
[34:00] >> thank you very much. I just on this first week of school,
[34:04] I just want to express my gratitude to all the teachers, staff, families that make our school district a
[34:09] welcoming place for all of our students and families to belong.
[34:13] I'm just really looking forward to a great year, and I will pass the mike.
[34:20] >> I want to thank the board for the long meeting,
[34:25] as it's been renamed our board retreat. And so the community knows.
[34:29] what we did is we spent a lot of very important focused time looking at the district strategic plan,
[34:37] doing a lot of planning in terms of study sessions for next year,
[34:41] what we want to focus on, our board norms and protocols,
[34:45] and a number of other important things. And I just want to thank my board colleagues.
[34:50] we don't always agree on everything, but we listen to each other, and we always stay focused on students and what really matters.
[34:58] so I really appreciate that. Long meeting, even though it was hard.
[35:04] and the only other thing I was going to say is, I'm going to be one of the people,
[35:08] along with dr. Minor, reading the constitution next tuesday here in the board room.
[35:13] so come on down and get your own pocket version of the constitution.
[35:18] and thanks to the league of women voters into vanita, you organize a lot of important things.
[35:23] >> doctor miner. >> well, I want to build on what howe,
[35:30] director kramer has shared with us. We have so many.
[35:34] I have the opportunity to visit about half the schools on the first day, but someone from our team gets out to every single school.
[35:40] and just to see everybody from para educators to our bus drivers,
[35:45] to our administrators, to our teachers, making students feel welcome and greeting them at the school.
[35:53] I don't think everyone understands what
[35:57] a monumental undertaking is to get school started and rolling.
[36:03] and at a middle school, when you think about the fact that half your students are new every year, currently.
[36:08] there's new routines every year. I'm very pleased with how relatively smoothly everything went,
[36:17] and deep gratitude to all the people who made that happen.
[36:21] and looking forward to a wonderful year, as well as constitution day.
[36:27] >> and with that, this regular business meeting at the edmund school district board of directors is adjourned.