>> good evening and welcome to the november meeting of the ferndale school board.
thank you for joining us whether here in the live audience or online.
the purpose of this and every other school board meeting is to conduct the business of the board.
that business is to facilitate the mission of our district which is to prepare each student to thrive
in an ever-changing world by providing a rigorous education that fosters academic growth,
nurtures confidence, and encourages critical thinking. To faithfully execute that purpose,
the board needs to hear and discuss a wide array of opinions on each issue.
that process is best served when all involved focus on the issues rather than the personalities.
a couple of quick housekeeping items before we get started.
in the event of an emergency, the same door you came in is the exit. If you need the restrooms,
they're out the door and up the ramp. I think that covers things.
with that, we'll move forward on tonight's meeting and I'd ask that you would all please join us in a salute to the flag.
>>
>> next, we'll have our land acknowledgment.
>> we, the ferndale school district, acknowledge we're residing on the traditional ancestral and unceded territory of the lummi people.
the lummi people are the original inhabitants of washington's northernmost coast and southern british columbia.
they live in villages throughout this territory and continue to have an ongoing relationship with these areas.
since time immemorial, they have celebrated life on the waterways and on the traditional ancestral and unceded lands
of their people to perpetuate their way of life. We honor their ancestors as we acknowledge the past, present,
and future lummi people as the original inhabitants of this land.
>> thank you, marcus. Next item on
our agenda is the approval of the minutes from our october meeting.
are there any changes or a motion to approve such?
>> I move that we approve the minute as written.
>> okay. It has been moved that we approve the minutes as presented.
all those in favor signify by saying aye. >> aye. >> all opposed? The minutes have been approved.
next, we will adopt our agenda.
the chair will put forth that the district office and christie's team has asked that we remove item
11.07 from the consent agenda which is policy 6114 on
gifts because there are some revisions that need to be made to it before presenting it to the board.
any other changes to the agenda?
then the chair will entertain a motion to adopt the agenda with that change.
>> I make a motion to adopt the agenda with removal of that item.
>> okay. It has been moved to adopt the meeting agenda as presented with the removal of item 11.07.
all those in favor signify by saying aye. >> aye.
>> all opposed? The revised agenda has been adopted.
with that, we will move on to item 4.01 which is bittersweet
as we say goodbye to our director childs better known as steve.
he commented and I appreciate. His goal has always been to have a short and efficient meeting.
he said this one will probably be one of his shortest. With that, I'm going to turn it over to christie.
>> I have a few things to say. I know our students have something to say as well
and I would invite the executive team if they have anything. But the first time I met you was actually my interview when I was
so nervous and I realize instantly that you were somebody that would understand me.
I felt like I would understand you. I've told steve many times he reminds me a lot of
my dad and that is the highest honor I can give to anybody. You have been an incredible support and what you have done for this district,
you have created a legacy. You will forever be known for the work that you did in this district.
I often say, what would steve say about this when it comes to facilities?
you have quite the reputation amongst many especially our students so I want to give them a chance to say something.
>> I was thinking long and hard of what I was going to say.
my first introduction to you, it was when I first got appointed to the school board.
I saw you during my interview. I was also very nervous. Then when I first got appointed, gabby,
she was giving me the rundown and she was telling everybody on the board. She was just telling me everybody's names,
what they do, and when she got to you, she was like,: oh, my gosh.
you are going to love him. He is genuinely the sweetest,
most caring person you'll ever meet." I have really come to see that myself.
I'm someone who gets really emotional at goodbyes and stuff like this. You'll see that.
but I just wanted to say that I'm really honored to have spent this time on the board with you.
I can really see how much you care about all the students in our schools.
I hope you know that I speak very highly of you when I talk to my friends about who is everybody
on the school board and you are just somebody that I really strive to be like.
you just really care about everybody and you just make sure that things are
done the proper way and I couldn't have asked for better person to be on the board with me.
I'm very honored to have spent this time with you and I just want you to know that we see this.
we see your hard work and it was all worth it.
a lot of the students at our school, they might not even know who you are or what you've done,
but they feel the impacts of it and that's the most important thing. Thank you so much.
>> following the pattern with christie and harleen,
the first time I met you was actually at my interview too and I was also extremely nervous.
but from the start; from the get go, you just seem like a person that really cares
about students and you can see that with your personality and your demeanor.
I respect that so I just and I've really
appreciated the very few months that I've had to spend time on the school board with you.
thank you for all the work that you've done. >> steve, on behalf of the school district,
we have a little gift here. One of the gifts in here is a flashlight because you have helped us light the way.
there are some cute little things made by kids. Those might be your favorites; necklaces and things.
>> well, I have something to say. You also remind me of my dad because of your age. [laughter]
>> that was not what I meant. >> that's exactly what christie said.
I appreciate
your leadership a lot. You were a person that I looked up when I first was appointed as
a school board member and your respect towards other people's opinions and your ability to listen before talking.
just the way that you handle yourself. You think before you speak.
I did appreciate that a lot. You're going to leave definitely a legacy like christie said.
we're just hoping that we can continue with that ability
to think and to understand what is best for our kids in the school district.
I appreciate that very much, steve. Thank you. >> thank you so much.
>> this is hard. I want to say thank you for being a friend and a sounding board.
if buildings need strong foundations, you are the foundation that was laid
for I think the facility's maintenance going forward. I'm very glad you did that.
that was a monumental thing. I am really going to miss you.
>> all the things that have been said, I would just echo.
it's like they're read from the card I wrote you. [laughter] thank you very much
steve for your stable, reasonable leadership.
you pulled me to the middle, and I appreciate that. I'll miss you.
>> you're still welcome. >> steve, you don't remind me of my father so you're okay. [laughter]
>> thank god for that.
>> I do want to say how much I've appreciated having you on the board.
you are a man of few words, but those words that you do speak are well-said,
well needed to be said, and just the integrity that they come with,
and your heart to do what's best for the students has really helped lead this board in the right direction.
thank you. Appreciate it. >> you're still welcome. If I may take a moment.
first and foremost, I need to recognize all the students of ferndale high school.
I shouldn't say high school, but the whole ferndale community.
the ground work has been laid for you kids and the tools are there.
you just need to pick up the tools and use them.
the warranty on those tools are lifetime.
they'll last you a lifetime. You'll never have to replace them. It will help you be successful for the rest of your life.
secondly, I'd like to thank the community.
it's been a real honor to serve the ferndale community over the years.
thank you for that opportunity. It's meant a lot in my life to serve those in the community.
I'd also like to thank the administration. Thank you for your support.
thank you for your hard work and all the things you do.
you guys make this place work. I know you're innovative and you do all the right things to help
support this community to make this district successful.
I also want to take a moment to thank the staff including the classified staff. They're near and dear to me.
but the teachers and the food service and the bus drivers and the custodians.
excuse me if I leave anybody out, but everyone.
you're the building blocks that support this foundation that is so important.
that's what makes us all work. Thank you for the things you do.
it's so important.
I also want to look around this room and thank my constituents.
I've made some friends here and it's been very meaningful. I will miss you.
I have enjoyed your company.
I've enjoyed collaborating with you and resolving issues.
thank you so much each and everyone. To the students reps,
I've always valued your opinions and your perspectives.
it's meant a lot to me and it's taught me a lot.
I've been removed from school for a lot of years and you've brought me back to
understand what it's like in the life of what school's like these days.
I appreciate that. Thank you for that perspective.
I apologize if I've left anybody out.
you all mean a lot to me. I will miss you.
but in parting, I would like to say,
please everyone, keep your eyes on the prize which is student outcomes.
that's what we're here for. We're here for student outcomes so don't lose that perspective.
we want to strive to continuous improvement.
don't settle for status quo. The old ways are not necessarily the best ways.
be open to new ideas and be innovative.
keep an open mind and enjoy your successes.
there will be failures, but you'll learn by those failures.
I only wish the very best for all of you.
I will miss you and thank you so much for tonight and all the previous nights.
I certainly appreciate your support so thank you all very much. [applause]
>> well, thank you, steve. Well said, as always.
appreciate those words, and I appreciate the reminder for us to keep
our eyes on the right focus because that's been your mainstay,
so it was fitting. Thank you.
>> with that comes the bittersweet part where we bid steve goodbye.
you get to go home early tonight. >> I'll stick around.
>> I will take my opportunity to bang
the gavel for the last time for myself and check myself out,
so that's coming real soon. [laughter] I will enjoy the shortest meaning I've had in four years.
[laughter] well, thank you much for your service.
we really appreciate it.
with that, then brings us to swearing in our newest board member,
and peggy, you can let me know. I did hear that you took the oath.
I don't know if you want to take it here with us, or.
well, I will then ask brian and peggy to join me over stage, I guess,
and then we'll go through the process and have the transition.
which way do you want? >> not the back to the audience.
>> this way? Always got to listen to your communications director.
if you two will please raise your right hands and repeat after me.
>> I. >> state your name. >> brian lynch.
>> do you solemnly swear that I will support. >> do you solemnly swear that I will support.
>> do you solemnly swear that I will support. >> the constitution of the united states.
>> the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states.
>> and the constitution and laws of the state of washington. >> and the constitution and laws of the state of washington.
>> and the constitution and laws of the state of washington. >> and that I will faithfully and impartially perform.
>> and that I will faithfully and impartially perform. >> and I will faithfully and impartially perform.
>> and discharge the duties of the office. >> and discharge the duties of the office.
>> and discharge the duties of the office. >> of ferndale school district 502 director district.
>> of ferndale school district, 502 director district 5. >> and the ferndale school district number 502 district director number 4.
>> and the county of wycombe.
>> and the county of wycombe. >> and the county of wycombe. >> state of washington,
according to the laws. >> state of washington, according to the law. >> and the state of washington, according to the laws.
>> and to the best of my ability. >> and to the best of liability. >> and to the best of liability.
>> congratulations. Welcome back, peggy. [applause] welcome to the board, ryan.
>> steve, I just wanted to say just a few things before you leave.
I don't know if you knew where you would end up in the board.
I served on the bond oversight committee. You stepped in and did a fantastic job of being the board liaison for that.
a big passion of the board,
I guess, was to basically try to have long-term facility planning.
I think that you did a great job of taking that vision that we had and making it a reality.
it wasn't there before. We just so happened to get the right board member
that had experience in facility maintenance. I'm very thankful for it.
I know that you said thank you a lot to us, and it's your turn to hear thank you from me and from the rest of that group.
I really am appreciative of what you've done, and I do my best to try to keep that going forward,
all the hard work you've done. Thank you. [applause]
>> that brings us to item 5.01 on our agenda to receive public comment.
public comment is a time when the board can hear from the community what is on their mind and is important to them,
particularly as it relates to what is happening in the school district. We appreciate respectful,
constructive criticism and welcome suggestions for solutions.
public comment is not a time for discussion. It is a time for the board to listen.
board members may interject to ask clarifying questions and/or may direct someone,
most often the superintendent, to take future action related to the statements,
but again, it is not a time for discussion. Our silence is not a signal of agreement or disagreement,
but is meant to respectfully hear what you have to say. Public comment is not the only way that you can communicate with the board.
those that are not comfortable speaking in front of a group are more than welcome to contact us via our email,
phone numbers that contact information is available on the district website.
there's also a generic way to communicate that information to us.
those wishing to speak during public comment are asked to sign up on the sign-up sheet in the back of the room.
each speaker is limited to three minutes, and their time will begin when they step to the podium and begin to address the board.
any speaker whose comments extend past three minutes is welcome to give us
the full extent of their comments or the remaining comments in writing,
and we're happy to read those and take a look at those. Tonight, we have on our list,
first person is amy o'neal.
>> hi. I am speaking to you not in my formal role with the district. I'm a teacher.
I'm also somebody who serves on five different boards. I just want to talk about what I saw on the last board meeting,
and what I'm hoping is that what we water will grow. I'm going to focus on the positives that I saw.
one of the things that I learned at one of my most recent board meetings it was just a good principle on being on a board.
when you're on a board, you're an ambassador of the organization. Part of that means that you're a loving internal critic.
that means you've got to hold people accountable, you've got to ask for improvements,
but you've also got to do that in a way that is productive together.
as board members, we all share a duty of care, of loyalty, of compliance, and a foresight.
I want to talk mostly about the foresight. I want to say a specific thank you to directors machado and
erickson for the foresight that I felt like you showed in the extended discussion about the hr report.
I felt like both of you gave us all a sense of,
I would love to tell you the story of what's happening in the ferndale school district. That's not to say my students don't always do that.
you always do that. Just by your presence, you tell the story of the school district.
I'm not leaving you out, but you two gave us the sense that you want to be ambassadors for the school district,
that you see what our staff is doing, that you see the hours,
the energy, beyond a sheet. Director machado, I loved what you said about if you focus too much on a sheet,
you lose sight of that performance. You lose that flexibility that we have to have.
the fact is, the foresight that we all have to have going into the next few years.
what is on our horizon together is frankly,
it's terrifying for a lot of our students, and I mean it's dangerous for a lot of our students.
it's only by working absolutely together and having laser focus on our shared priorities that we're going to get anywhere.
I just want to say thank you to both of you for having that focus on the actual priorities and the concerns that we have looming in front of us.
thank you. Just like director childs, I would love to see us getting
more efficient meetings because these used to be 45 minutes. Not kidding. It can be done.
thank you. [laughter]
>> thank you, amy, and I guess I have 15 minutes left, so I'll speak quickly. [laughter] next on our list is dom fam.
>> good evening. My name is dom fam, and I identify as a fir resident.
since march, I've spoken about how our education system is being driven
by bloated federal and state bureaucracies that waste money and undermine local control.
national spending is nearing $1 trillion a year.
yet enrollment is falling, and student performance continues to decline.
the system is failing our children while expanding its own power.
in recent years, the us department of education has crossed far beyond simple inefficiency.
it has become an institution willing to pressure, intimidate, and override parents.
the fbi created threat tags to track parents speaking at school board meetings with about legitimate concerns,
school safety, bathroom, and locker room policies, and sexualized material in classrooms.
that is an abuse of federal authority. The department of education then rewrote title 9 to include
gender identity and handed enforcement to the department of agriculture,
which threatened to withhold school meal funding from districts that refused to accept this ideological shift.
washington state has followed the same playbook. Ospi routinely uses funding threats to force districts into compliance.
as reported by kpq news,
ospi threatened to cut funding for the la center school district for resisting policies that may conflict with federal laws.
ospi ordered the district not to share information about a student's gender identity without the student's consent.
potentially conflicting with the parental rights provisions
in the family education rights and privacy act. Ospi also required staff training using
a screening tool intended to eliminate bias related to gender identity,
which may conflict with the protection of pupil rights amendment requirements for
parental involvement in policies affecting students' privacy.
the tenth amendment makes clear that powers not given to
the federal government belong to the state or to the people,
and the people means the level of government closest to families,
or counties, and our local school districts. For these reasons, I continue to support not only eliminating
the us department of education but also removing the state from direct control of k through 12 education.
decisions should be made here by the people who live here,
not by distant agencies that answer to political agendas instead of parents. Thank you.
>> thank you, dom.
>> that is all of the people that are signed up for tonight.
again, just because public comment is over doesn't mean that we don't want to hear what you have to say.
please feel free to contact us again. Our contact information is available on the website,
and we appreciate getting input from the community.
with that, we'll move on to a special presentation tonight.
tonight, we are honored to have senator sharon schumacher with us to share her insight on educational funding,
and we'd invite her to come to the table and join the group, and to talk about her priorities for the upcoming legislative session.
as I turn this portion of the meeting over to nancy, our board legislative, I'd like to recognize and thank her for the work she's done reaching out to all of
our local legislators in hopes of all of them meeting with us.
a special thanks to you, sharon, for agreeing to meet with us tonight.
>> thank you so much. Senator schumacher, it is an honor to have you come in person.
usually when I do a leg rep report, I'm talking about what's going on in the legislature,
and this time we have you here in person. We are delighted to have you,
and we are very much looking forward to this conversation.
>> there we go. Thank you for having me here. I have to say that was a wonderful way to start a meeting,
especially in these times where it seems like you turn on the tv and everyone's just yelling at each other.
it's really nice to see that people are really coming together and getting teary-eyed.
I'm the person that leaves a party before the goodbye start, so it was nice to see it,
but I always hate it when it's about me.
>> if you have anything that you wanted to address first,
just give us a narrative of things that you're thinking about or would you prefer that we just ask some questions?
>> I don't have to hold it? I can tell you about myself,
and then I thought of this is more of a conversation. I got the questions you asked, and I'll probably answer them a little off the cuff,
but I'm happy to have a conversation. I love schools.
I've spent my life in school. I teach at western washington university. I'm an economics professor,
and it's so much fun working with young people. They just give you so much joy,
and I have hope for the future when I see them and my kids and my kids' friends,
and the way they see the world is truly special. I serve as chair of the energy, environment,
and technology committee, where we've been working on a number of policies. I joke that my job is to keep the lights on,
but I really am concerned with keeping the lights on. We have some real struggles right now as we see big increases in demand for electricity.
we're moving towards clean energy goals and it is a little difficult to build in washington state.
we're trying to figure out that piece of how to balance affordability,
with the need for data centers, with the need for protecting things like salmon and land and our environment.
I also serve on the transportation committee and then the agricultural natural resources and parks committee.
I don't serve on the education committee, but this last session,
I heard from a number of districts that were really concerned about education funding,
and I share that concern. A couple of us, there's not a whole lot of legislators with school-age children,
but those of us who did see what was going on in schools really were yelling the alarm,
and that includes all three of your legislators here in the 42nd.
we're a very rare district where we all have school-age children. That doesn't usually happen in the legislature.
we were able to put some more money into k-12, particularly special ed,
I know it's not enough. I would agree. I saw some of the questions about,
are we really funding basic education, and I think that we need to do better.
this is going to be something we're probably not going to do it all at once, but we're going to keep taking bites of the apple,
and so please do continue to encourage us to prioritize that because you get a bunch of legislators who hear about all different concerns,
and it's worse than hurting cats. It makes cat-hurting look easy sometimes.
>> the latest that I've heard from the legislature is that,
our state has less money than they thought we did,
so going into this next short session, it looks like we're not going to be seeing anything making up for
last legislative session for education.
do you have any thoughts on that? >> I'm always optimistic,
so I'm not going to say don't expect much, but there's no money.
but who knows? We might be able to pull something out. What I will say is to give some context.
you see numbers are hard to understand and numbers over time, and when we're talking millions and millions of dollars,
it's especially hard to understand. But the graph that I found most helpful was you look at
state spending as a portion of washington state's income, and it's been about 5% since the 1970s.
but because we rely so much on sales tax, is about 50% of our revenue,
and what we have seen is that, people buy less and less stuff, and they get more and more services.
when we keep the rates the same as a percentage of income, it's been decreasing over time.
meanwhile, I know inflation, the msocs costs have really eaten away at school budgets.
we've been trying to figure out how to solve those pieces, but I think it also is going to take more money.
we've made some investments in things like early learning, which I think make your jobs easier.
I think that's really important. I want to try and make sure that we continue to do that,
but it's getting to be more difficult as we think about early learning, k-12, and then higher ed really
was the one that took some of the most cuts this last session. Frankly, those are all the same kids.
it's all the same groups of people that we want to see be successful,
and they need all three of those pieces.
>> with that, you mentioned as far as the younger kids,
and one of the things that we've really, and christie's led the march on, is the tk,
that early ed, and how the return on the investment seems to be really high,
yet there are some within the legislature that are like, let's eliminate that.
how do we get that message across to not only our own legislators,
but others because, again, making everything that has been presented to
us shows that earlier we have those interventions, the earlier we get those kids caught up,
the less it costs us in the long run. >> totally. The research on this is astounding.
it saves you money on having fewer kids go through special ed, but we also see lower incarceration rates,
and it just breaks my heart that someone might be facing criminal consequences,
and they'd only gotten a little bit more preschool when they were three. I don't think anybody thinks that's right.
I'm a big believer in tk. I think it's awesome. I'm so proud that christie is from the same county as me and doing that work.
I also understand that budget writers are a little frustrated as they see this program getting bigger and bigger,
and they feel like they haven't been able to put their stamp on it and explicitly approve it.
we've come to a compromise in this last legislative session where,
correct me if I'm misremembering things, you get a legislative fog when you come home.
but I think we allowed programs to stay that already had it,
but they're trying to limit the expansion of it. That's okay for macomb county because we were an early leader,
largely thanks to your leadership here. But I do think that it would be,
I care about kids in yakima too. And so I think that that's something that we need to work
together as a legislature to try and figure out some of these issues where we're seeing with the same rates, revenue declining.
but just because of the structural changes in our economy.
someone told me that if you were to put idaho's tax structure on washington state,
we would have a budget surplus. The way that we do this matters,
and so we need to think through this structural reform. We also have one of the more regressive tax systems,
meaning that it falls more on working people than on the very wealthy. I'd like to try and work on that.
it's a long project to try and fix that.
>> I think in front of you, you have a sheet that looks like this,
gaps in state funding, and you see that in
the three categories that we were asking for last legislative session,
special education, msoc, and transportation, over the past several years,
we have had to pay over $24 million that didn't come from state funds.
with that, anticipating this upcoming legislative session,
I'm wondering what the state is thinking about more school districts falling into binding conditions and such,
because the costs of these things are still going up,
and our revenue is not anywhere near keeping up. The looming fear of binding conditions and worse is what a lot of districts are thinking.
how can that be addressed at the legislature this coming year? >> it's going to be a really difficult budget session.
I don't have easy answers for you. I wish I did, because we do them. But I do think that we need to be looking at our tax structure and
figuring out how to not be so reliant on sales tax, how to look at other forms of revenue.
we passed a capital gains tax a few years ago to partially fund k-12,
but also some of that early learning. I think we need to continue to work on these pieces.
this last year, to avoid really terrible cuts, we had a bunch of pass and increase.
we expanded the sales tax, and nobody wanted to vote for that. Nobody was excited to vote for that.
but I voted for it because I wanted to make sure I didn't want to leave anything on the table when it came to helping our schools.
that was what my number 1 thought was. All those kids and all those three sectors of schools,
how do we protect that funding, and how do we make sure we do the right thing for those kids?
>> as we look at that and special education,
you've mentioned is one of the big targets,
and it's my understanding, and christie can probably correct me if I'm wrong,
they changed some of the rates or such,
but it really didn't help us because we weren't at those maximum, so we didn't end up with any more.
but one of the things that we deal with, it's almost like it puts districts in competition with each other because you get
certain students with more extensive ieps that require more funding,
but you don't get more funding for them. Depending on the housing within your district,
depending on the demographics, if you are a district that is heavy with more students
that need special education or have specialized education plans,
you have more costs, but you may not get any more money,
and so you're almost glad, which is sad to say if they move to
another district because then it's their responsibility. Because the dollars average out,
and you're in this situation of because the state doesn't fund on a per-need basis,
it funds more on numbers, how do we get the legislators to recognize that,
and help it out, so again, districts can be not in competition with each other,
but working together for the betterment of all kids? >> I think the more the districts work together,
the easier our job becomes, and the less likely we are to make mistakes.
last year, it was really compelling when people talked about the big three, which I believe are these three;
the special education, the msocs, and the transportation. The more that you all are,
if this is continuing to be the song, that's great. We've heard the first round,
and so the second time you hear it, it's a little bit more powerful. I think continuing to pound on those three,
and making sure that when you go together with the other districts, you have a coherent story.
because when you don't have a coherent story, we mess it up. There's so many of us,
we have such different districts, but the more that stakeholders can iron out the solutions,
the easier it is for us and the more likely we are to listen and be able to get it right.
I don't know if there's an easy answer to that. One of the issues I hear is that school districts have more information than we do,
and so we want to set up a system of funding that is fair where the state is funding basic education,
but you all know the particular needs of your schools, you all know the particular needs of your programs.
coming up with a formula that may not perfectly fit your school, but is roughly right and gives you the flexibility to figure out what to do,
I think that's probably the best fast degree approximation.
but we need your help figuring that out. >> well, fortunately, we have a town hall that
we're trying to organize like we did last year. We will definitely keep you in the loop on that.
>> that's great. With the folks in blaine and melt baker? >> exactly. >> that was really powerful. In fact,
I've let the folks know from the 40th that they should be copying it. >> very good. Just a story,
I know that a lot of people go $19,000 per year to educate a child?
they just think, well, that is way too much money.
we actually have quite a few students.
I won't put a number on it, but we have a few students that cost us $20,000 a month.
>> and there's no differentiation in funding for those students.
I'm wondering if there could be any legislature written that could help with
these outliers that are really affecting the budget.
what is that? I didn't bring my heir in the audit committee today.
I saw on the books, how much it costs for several students to receive the special education that they need,
and it over $100,000 this month for just a few of them.
>> schools have to pick up so many other places where social safety net fails.
I think that's one of the things we really realized in the pandemic. Was how much schools feed people and how much they
step in when families can't pull it together, or don't have the means, or don't know how.
I've learned so much from my teachers as someone who's got it relatively well.
my teachers have been amazing at teaching me about my children. One of the programs that I think it's supposed to address this is the safety net program,
but sometimes that's hard because you get caught like I'm seeing christie smile.
I think there has to be ways to make that work better.
when you have a system that is there, it's usually best to try and make that system work better.
so if you have ideas I'm open to it, I'm not on the education committee, so I'm probably not the best person to ask to make those changes,
but I'd be willing to work with you and bring those ideas forward with people who are and who do know better.
I can't remember either joe or alicia, one of them is on the education committee.
>> I think alicia is. >> we laugh because the safety net has holes in it.
that does make a big difference. And one of the constant things that we hear is that feedback of why does it cost so much?
I can enroll my kid in a private school in way cheaper,
and it gets tiring to explain that argument of private schools can be selective?
they can take whoever they want, and the part that I was even surprised to learn,
there are certain things that kids in private schools we have to fund as the public school district,
and a lot of people don't realize that. It's getting that message.
and so you talk in certainly from the conversations that we've had with our local legislators,
you guys are supportive of education. How do we help you guys,
how do we partner with you to get the message across? What information is helpful,
and certainly the part that always amazes me is when the legislative session is going,
it's like rapid fire and trying to keep up as I applaud nancy and her ability to do it.
but how do we keep you guys abreast? How do we provide you with those answers? Because obviously, you're getting bills about everything.
you can't know everything about everything. We have a semi-expertise in education.
how do we make that available to you as a resource? >> let me know about proposals as they go forward. Keep me updated.
that's really helpful to hear there was one year where I sit next to the chair, not anymore,
but I used to sit next to the chair of the education committee in the caucus room,
and mount baker school district sent me just a spreadsheet of where their costs were and where the school funding was.
she was like, woa, because she lives in mercer island and that's different from
a rural school district with different transportation problems and different populations,
and not nearly as much, levy money coming in. So numbers are great, information is great.
and when you see those proposals coming through, let me know if that works for ferndale or if there needs to be something adjusted.
that's really useful information for me. Because if I don't know, I'm not always successful at getting what I want,
it would be amazing if I were. But I definitely can't help if I don't know what I should be asking for, peggy.
>> piggybacking off of what kevin and nancy said about special needs students,
the ones with extreme special needs. It seems as though institutions to address
those needs in washington state have been vanishing.
to the point where we're forced to send kids out of state for services,
and even then lucky if we're able to find them. What is the legislature doing to address that problem,
because it is a huge expense for an individual student to do that?
>> what kind of, I might need some help here. So what institutions have you been using in washington state?
>> well, I know that there are schools for the deaf and for the blind,
that I'm aware of had funding cuts, residential facilities.
actually, it would be better to have trina bring the because this is her area.
>> so one of the things we've been working on a lot
this year and last is residential placements for students based on behavior,
a lot of the times and disabilities, and working with ospi for the approved sites
that are within state and out of state for npas or non-public agencies.
while ospi has been helpful with those connections and approvals,
the in state list is very small.
of any programs available. As peggy mentioned, the out-of-state options are also
difficult to navigate and find the right match for students.
and a lot of those costs that go into the work to identify the school,
make sure it meets the state requirements, and also as a match for the students are non.
they don't qualify for the safety net application,
and as mentioned before, the safety net system is not a guarantee or an entitlement,
it's a application that we can apply for, and the reimbursement, if you will,
is dependent on several factors and not guaranteed.
>> and if I could add to that, whenever we have to send somebody out of state like that,
it's money that leaves the state and doesn't support workers here in this state.
>> that's a great point. I'll talk to someone on education about this. I don't know a ton about this area,
but some of the things about my job, I get to learn new things.
>> I think one of the things that whether it's to the level that we're putting forward here of needing residential placement,
or I think what we're finding in schools and ferndale, is not unique to this,
but just increasing student needs that go beyond what schools are typically accustomed to or used to.
it's taxing on our teachers,
or supporting our families as well as one another. All in efforts to support students who a lot of times,
we aren't sure what to do in order to provide them the services that they so greatly need.
and so the costs are a big piece of that, but just also the systems and the infrastructures to support
needs that schools haven't typically been set up to provide.
>> to piggyback off of what she just said, trina.
to me, I see that education has had to
take on so many more things than what we were designed to take on.
it would be wonderful if we could really focus on academics, reading,
writing, math, science, and then all the bells and whistles of music and arts and that thing.
but we've been asked to do so much more than that.
and it's breaking the bank, and it's really difficult on teachers
and staff to have to deal with these things as well.
I wonder, how can we avoid this mission creep?
how can we go back to the things that we were designed and intended to do?
how can the legislature help us with that? >> do you mean emotional issues or behavioral [overlapping].
>> that is a huge piece of it. Yes. Behavioral problems have skyrocketed in the past five,
10 years? And especially recently. >> I don't know what the answer to that is to be honest.
I don't know if there should be separate institutions that it feels like those students need an education too.
maybe what it's doing is making sure that we have the right people in schools
that know how to help and know how to work and can work alongside teachers.
trina looks like she has ideas so let me. >> I just want us to be really careful that we're
not talking about not serving our students. We're talking about having the resources to
serve our students well and in new ways that are emerging and it really does come down to the funding of we are,
like nancy said being asked as a school system to do so much with wrap around support
and really pay attention to so many needs that go beyond the academics,
and we're willing to do that, but the system wasn't set up or funded in a way to do that.
when we look at inclusive practices and keeping our students in
their neighborhood schools and serving them with their peers when they have disabilities.
those are things we want to do, but they often require more staff,
specialized staff additional resources beyond what we're funded or so.
>> and when I ask people questions about this, they usually tell me that you are the right people to be doing this in these neighborhoods.
you guys know kids more than anyone does, or at least all the different kids.
I know my own kids, but I don't know everyone else's kids. And so I do think that schools,
you have been tasked with this. You're probably better at it, but we should better support you in doing so.
>> I know last year, I saw a bill that eliminated redundancies in certain
between certain agencies to reduce the costs.
have there been any programs identified going forward for this year
that could be cut back without causing people to really suffer?
>> we did a lot of that this last year.
I think to a certain extent, everyone should be able to look at their budget and look at redundancies.
that's probably good activity to be having every few years. I know we've been looking at it with western,
and we consolidated some administrative pieces,
and that was probably a good thing to do. I don't know where we are in terms of how much further we can go.
we eliminated some newer programs; we're probably going to have to be looking at older programs and wondering if they're really serving people.
but if you look at our budget, mostly it's a little bit less than 50% k through 12.
when you put in early learning and higher ed, that's a big portion of it.
people joke that and then we have medicaid, social safety net, criminal justice.
that is most of our budget. If you have ideas on things that we can cut,
I'm all yours, but I don't know where those are.
>> and certainly cutting and making the budget efficient is one of the things that I have heard
for all the 15 years I've been on the board is our favorite term of unfunded mandates.
here, schools, you guys need to do this and it's going to cost you,
well, you figure out where to get the money from. That we often joke,
and I'm sure the legislatures are not in the back room plotting these things,
but sometimes we feel like they are, because they come up with these rules and things that we need to report this,
or we need to do this, we need to have this particular place or procedure in place.
those things all cost money, but they don't give us any money to do it. We're supposed to still do it with the dollars plus the added on.
that's I guess where it gets frustrated and where we need to work together to
help the mcly decision came about in the legislature's wave,
well, we'll take in more money, but we're going to limit your local abilities to generate money.
and those local things, it was interesting to hear the perspective coming out of osbi
that our interpretation of levies is there for enrichments,
for the arts, for things that the community wants to make it special. Osbi's definition was, well,
for anything we don't fund. That was felt like literally a slap in the face.
as you say, the people that sit behind me,
the people that are out there, the people that are watching the teachers, the para educators, all those in the district,
they know their job and they're doing it well, and they're having to do it with less and less money.
and they do, because they care so much about the kids, we need to figure out how to help support
them and to provide those funds that they need, and not keep adding extra requirements on them.
and those are going to vary from district to district as far as what is the most redundant.
I think the craziest thing I heard, and don't know if you know about it, but our apportionment,
our money for june, because of what had gone on with within the legislator,
money hadn't been appropriated for it. We were told, well,
we'll pay you for that in july. I asked christie said, what do we tell puget power?
we're not going to pay you this month, we're going to pay you next month. No big deal. You don't care. Teachers, you'll get your salary next month.
>> that's not the way we should be operating. If education is a paramount duty of the state,
if it is a priority of the legislature, it just doesn't seem like the actions are speaking the same as what the words are.
>> I think the legislature needs to make some hard choices. I don't disagree with you on that.
I do think that we have not always been the most reliable partner. It's a hard job. You have a hard job. I have a hard job.
we all have hard jobs. [laughter] peggy. >> well, speaking to your own area of renewable energy projects,
there has been an effort to move public transportation,
schools, toward electric buses and more efficient lighting and all that stuff.
to what extent can you relieve some of the mandates,
if you will, on energy requirements for schools to relieve some of the burden?
>> I don't think we've required people get electric buses, but we did create a grant program and I rode some in toppenish.
it's going to be different everywhere depending on how far you have to go and what your system is.
but it was saving the school district money. They said that the bus was a little bit more expensive,
but they save so much more money by not having to buy diesel all the time.
that's the way that I think we need to be on the clean energy front.
right now, solar with storage is cheaper than gas.
we should be using what's cheaper where we can. Sometimes it doesn't make sense, sometimes you need more backup than what gas has.
I think we passed a clean buildings law, I think in 2019,
and then this last year, school districts are finding, geez,
we need to do something here and getting a little bit nervous. We made some amendments to it
this last year to give school districts a little bit more time to figure it out,
to allow for alternative pathways of compliance.
but the idea is that it is supposed to help districts save money.
that one of the ideas is benchmarking, which means you're going to report what
your energy use is for each building and you're going to learn about that energy use and learn ways that you can reduce the cost.
we've seen in other areas where building managers do that, they're able to lower their energy costs.
our facilities managers are amazing and they do really hard work.
but sometimes that's the 18th thing on their list and we want to bring it up at least to the top.
it just gets a really good look at, like looking at what happens if we switch with more energy efficient light bulbs,
what happens if we think about hvac systems? There's some programs also.
there's grant programs. I think one of the roles of the state government should
be experimenting with new technologies and trying to de-risk them for the general public.
we've been trying to create programs where school districts can put solar panels,
energy storage on schools. Meridian school district has been looking at this at irene reither,
and they've been trying to figure out those pieces. We're trying to make this an easy thing to comply with,
not like a punishment, not an extra cost, but let us be your partner in figuring out how to
save energy costs and deliver better value to your students. >> I guess one of my questions is, then,
since everything seems to be underfunded, is there enough money for grants for those kinds of projects?
>> this is the crazy thing about olympias. We have a bucket for everything.
this money goes to that person and this money goes to that person. When I first came to olympia,
I was like, why are we doing this? Nobody budgets their own life that way,
where you just have a budget for dinner and a budget for pillows, but that's how governments work,
and that's probably how your budgets work too. You have facilities money and you have books money.
you have all these different budgets. The money for some of these grant programs
has come from the climate commitment act dollars, where the idea is that these are monies raised
to fund green energy projects and to do some of that experimentation,
which should save school districts money over time. It's a way to get money into school districts too.
>> well, I have heard rumors of a legislative bill that is being crafted right now,
requiring public school districts to maintain an 8.5% fund balance.
have you heard anything about that? >> no, I haven't heard anything. >> well, if that is true and it does come across your desk,
I hope that you will not vote in favor of it because we try to maintain a 4% fund balance here,
and we would love to have an 8% fund balance,
but to have that mandated would be extremely
problematic because that's not where we are at this time.
>> I'll see if I can track down that rumor and get back to you. >> thank you. Look into ospi on that one.
>> what other questions, rumors, recipes?
>> I think I'm sitting here listening and board,
you've come so far. This is so exciting. [laughter] we've learned a lot together.
I have to say a lot of the things that I consistently, and you and I've talked about this,
so I just want to make it public that we talk about funding are the reactionary things in our state.
if we continue to focus there, it breaks my heart to see what's happening to early childhood.
every year, we have to fight for tk, and then ecap is on the line.
what we're seeing here in ferndale is when I got here, only about 32% of our students who could afford private for pay.
trina and kelly and their team,
in partnership with the esd, tk,
special education funding, they have braided funds magically, where all of our students,
except for a very small selected group, have an inclusive opportunity.
when we talk about the behaviors that nancy talked about, or we talk about these things that are reactionary,
we're going to exasperate the problem if we eliminate that type of service.
I would challenge the legislators to continue to invest states that have
strong vibrant early learning infrastructures
are not seeing the same levels that we are seeing here in washington.
we're going to have to build more jails. We're going to have to have more residential facilities.
the amount of parent education that goes into early learning programs.
parents are our first teacher, and in this state,
unless you qualify for a program, you do not get free parent education.
it comes at a cost to the family and our families cannot afford it. I implore us to think about the proactive things that we know work.
that have proven to work year-after-year, because over time, we're going to pay less.
the research has shown, I've shared the data with you, we're seeing it here in ferndale,
the number of our students. Our job is to get kids to graduation,
and we know children have a higher chance of graduation and going on to higher ed if they've had a strong foundation.
I would ask that in that debate, because it's easy to focus on what we have to do,
but we have to think ahead too. >> it was hard, some of the cuts to early learning this last session. It was really sad.
we tried to prioritize slowing down expansions programs. We had all these grand designs.
the money didn't come in as we thought, so we tried not to cut off slots and programs that were already working,
but slow down expansions. But even that's hard. That means that you're not getting those kids that need the help.
>> a hundred percent. I think when you study other countries,
higher ed needs more students. We've developed some partnerships here with btc and western where we have direct admit.
we have students who are taking college in the high school. They're starting to think about college earlier,
which is allowing us to protect funds for our younger students.
it troubles me that that continues to be such a debate
when it's very clear that that is the path forward for many children.
>> but what is the debate? Is it on early learning or?
>> on the early learning. I think there's lots of people in the later high school college realm that could be partnering differently that are not?
they could take a lesson from the cross-sector work happening in early childhood education.
we would save money on one end that could be invested on the other. >> they're all the same kids.
>> you did really good debating that well. We're proud of you.
>> are there any other questions for senator shewmake?
>> peggy is looking at me like, you always have a question.
really, kevin asked the question.
I just want to land it a little bit more maybe. Through my day job,
I know the avenues to reach you and the legislators as a school board member,
and my colleagues are the ones that talk to you.
I talk to the agencies more. But as a school board,
I have found it a little bit difficult to get that information to you that you
need when we are seeing things that threaten the viability of the things that we do here.
you just mentioned that providing you with the information is good.
but I'm just thinking, what are some good ways or avenues that we can have open,
that we can be senator shewmake, this is the information that we have.
this is what we see, and this comes from the ferndale school district.
but we can get in front of you in time that we can avoid
certain things that can progress in a way that once they are too advance it's just so hard to get back.
>> email works. I check my email a lot during a session. I'm not as great checking it when I'm outside a session.
sometimes those get lost. I always tell my students when I'm not in the middle of teaching,
sometimes you have to e mail me more than once, and I appreciate it.
I don't want to drop the emails. We're part time legislators. I have an outside job.
I got kids. Someone's in an improv show in a few weeks.
all of the things. I am really sorry if I drop an email.
but I responded to your emails, nancy. >> you are the best. >> good. [laughter]
>> you're here. >> [laughter] sometimes I need to step away.
I don't know if you all are dealing with your phone addictions, but sometimes I need to step away for a few weeks.
[laughter] but if you don't have my email,
I know christie and nancy do, and I really do appreciate that. A clear email saying,
this is what's going on. This is what is good for ferndale.
this is what is not good for ferndale. That is actionable information, and I always appreciate it.
it's even better when you guys can speak with one voice. That's the best.
>> well, please do expect an invitation to come to our town hall.
we'll give you details as it gels and it gets closer, especially the time and date,
and I do believe it will be held here in ferndale high school at the pac.
I'll definitely be in touch with you as that happens.
>> that sounds great. Awesome. Well, thank you all. >> well, thank you very much,
senator shewmake for coming, spending your time with us, answering these questions, and especially for listening.
much appreciated, and we wish you all the best in this upcoming legislative session.
you will hear from us often. >> that sounds great. I look forward to it. Thank you all for having me.
this is such a nice group of folks working together. I love it. Awesome. Good evening.
>> thank you so much. [applause]
>> well, again, let me echo nancy's words. Thank you, senator shewmake, for being here.
we appreciate you being available to us, and we will keep telling you or letting you
know what's on our mind as it comes to education.
certainly, if you run into any situations where you need input, reach out to us, we're happy to answer those emails as well.
let me get back to my regular agenda. That brings us on to superintendent sharing,
and so I will turn it over to christie. >> thank you very much.
I'm going to get some notes here. Go ahead. Selina, can go to the next slide.
just if you were not aware, right now we have parent teacher conferences going on and
I as a teacher loved that time to connect with parents.
I also know it's challenging. There's early release every day,
so it does cause some childcare issues or different pieces.
but overall, it's just an excellent time for parents and teachers to come together and talk about children.
we cannot do our job without the partnership of the families.
I appreciate all the time that our staff is putting into these.
it's a lift. It is definitely a lift for them to prepare for every single one,
and I just want to acknowledge that on behalf of my staff and thank them for all that they do.
you may have seen, and so I just want to talk about it. We have two committees coming up.
we have the highly capable committee, and I want to thank peggy has offered to
represent the board and sit and listen and be a liaison for that.
don, christiana, kelly, and trina are going to be helping lead that work.
then we have the bell time committee. I've been mentioning since I got here, it came up in my entry data that people are asking about,
why do our students who get up so much earlier start school so much later?
I had a principal and we were laughing because he had a student come to school,
an elementary age student come to school at 9:00, and the child had been up for over five hours already,
so was ready for the end of the day within an hour of school starting.
high schoolers too, there's a lot of science around high school brains and how that works.
really, there is no decision around bell times, but we as a committee are going to be looking at the research,
talking about any recommendations that we may have about switching the bell times.
I believe both nancy and brian have shown interest in representing the board in some way,
so I think they'll work that out. You'll get some insight to that.
then both committees will create a proposal to bring to you.
these are advisories, that means they advise, but the ultimate decision for any of the work has to go through the board.
you will be getting those updates from me along the way and then there'll be a presentation at some point.
stay tuned. Rave and I will be leading the bell time committee.
we just had our time together in washington.
one of the things that came up with that is the commitment of the board to have a retreat.
I thought, while I have you as a captive audience, could we throw out some dates or times?
I don't know if you were thinking an evening. I would recommend a saturday.
why I say a saturday is because at the end of the day, lots of things can happen during a day,
and so to do an evening time can be challenging because we just get started and then we can't go,
but if we could put a full day in. Some recommendations that I would ask you to look at are february 7th,
the 14th, the 21st, or the 28th.
>> anybody, do any of those work?
>> I think we might have home issues if we do it on february 14th.
just thinking. Trying to stay out of trouble. >> take that one off the table.
we're down to the 7th, 21st, 28th. >> for me, we're going to have conflicts with the musical being on the 21st and 28th.
>> does the february 7th work for people? >> it's session, but we can make it work.
I was hoping to shoot for the 28th, closer to the end, but we have the musical.
>> can we consider dates in january? >> we can. Chris, are you looking at my calendar in january?
what does my january calendar look like, chris? [laughter]
>> saturday the 10th is open,the 17t,
the 24th, or the 31st.
>> looking at january, are any of those off the table?
>> all of those look good to me.
>> I prefer the 10th or the 17th, but I can make the 24th work too.
>> I am working on the 10th and the 17th. There you go. Sorry.
>> how about the 24th? >> looks good to me. >> that looks good to me.
>> I'll take it. >> [noise] we have a winner. Board retreat on the 24th,
and I will work with the board chair. I know that you'll be talking about that later,
and then we'll figure out location and times and get that information out to you.
but if you'll put a hold on your calendars or I'll actually ask chris to send everyone a hold.
I want to break about two of our staff members.
one of them is in the audience, and so I'll just go ahead and embarrass her.
think about how many teachers are in washington state, and then they have a few awards that happen.
we have two music educators of the year. We have ms. Schlichting,
who was honored as the san juan music education association music educator of the year,
and ms. Bianco, who is sitting in the stands, is being inducted into the washington music educator hall of fame.
that is a huge honor. [applause] that will be happening in yakima.
and we are known for our music program,
and this is why because we have excellent people bringing music to our students every single day.
I just wanted to acknowledge them. Congratulations. [applause] then you all,
for your work with the cell phone were recognized this past weekend,
and I think the public should know because it was really a community effort with the cell phone policy and the work around that,
and I am getting so many comments. Harleen, your video,
it just makes me smile every single time, that video, but the key and why ferndale,
I truly believe there are two factors why we stood out,
because lots of districts have a cell phone policy. It worked because the board took a very strong stance and
they were very clear on what was going to happen.
that gave it a lot of significance, and the implementation was led by our students for our students,
and that is huge. I want to give a shout out to our students because they
really often are the best teachers. [applause] congratulations on your board of distinction for that work.
then we had two presentations, and I'm going to talk about one,
and then I'm going to let our students talk about the other. We had the cell phone presentation,
it was a packed room. A lot of people were asking and literally,
we have had so many people reach out and wanting the video, wanting the policies, wanting the work from the high school,
wanting to zoom to talk about it. I'm excited for that work and to support districts across the state.
then we also had our students who led, and I don't know.
I've been going to wssda, now, this was my fourth time. I've never seen a fully student-led presentation.
it's usually done in partnership with superintendents or directors,
and this was all about you two. Take it, kids. You want to talk about it?
>> the whole presentation took a lot of hard work,
and marcus is going attest to that, so many late night meetings. >> a lot of late night meetings.
>> now with o carper kids, but that morning,
I was writing my notes on these cards during the general session.
it took a lot of hard work, but finally, we were able to present it and thankfully,
it went really well. We presented it on our esd [inaudible] retreat
that gabby and I and then maggie and alina.
there are two oak harbor reps for the school board,
and we hosted a retreat with a bunch of students while we were there and I think there were
about 40 student representatives from their school boards in our esd,
I guess, in attendance, and we just built connections and went over what it means to be a student rep.
I'm pretty sure last year, we presented the mission statement,
but yeah, we create a mission statement while we were there. During our presentation, we just went over how that came to be,
how other schools can replicate it, how other schools can make their own, and the planning process behind it.
>> from what I've heard, it was an amazing experience for everybody because actually I wasn't there,
but harleen was telling me all about it and the presentation went really amazing.
>> you'll be doing it again this year. >> yes, we will. It's going to be bigger, more students.
we're going to try to get more involvement, but 40 students last year for our first year was really good.
>> it was the very first student-led student rep regional meeting
in the state of washington. Now, every other esd is trying to pattern after.
>> I think it's because students don't even know what esd is. [laughter] I'm sorry.
one of the first questions I asked when I was presenting was, raise your hand if you know what your own esd is and the schools in it.
I'm telling you, only the adults in the room rose their hands because no student knows what that is.
but we just have so many resources. You guys are such incredible resources.
I feel it was really important for us to tell other students and directors and
superintendents about the impact that we can have and how we can elevate student voice.
>> if I can share something real quick about you two is that your delivery,
your energy is impressive. I wish I would have been that eloquent when I was your age.
I hardly could put two words together. Now my kids say that all I do is lecture,
but really, it's very impressive what you did. The energy, people were paying attention.
there was a q&a at the end. We came in and you were taking those questions like it was food.
you were just eating them all up and it's very impressive what you do. We're so fortunate to have you here and to be able to be leaders for our student body,
the whole school district. I really appreciate you both. Good job.
>> thank you. >> if I can chime in too. It was amazing and exciting.
it was a proud daddy moment to see you guys, our kids, up there.
you guys rocked it. There's just no other way to say it.
you did ferndale proud, so thank you. >> thank you. [applause]
>> is there any other updates you want to give? >> I hold a note sheet right now, but last month,
we went to horizon for a part of our student outreach program,
and I don't have a cute little visual this time. I was probably supposed to send in photos of the brainstorm thing, but you know what,
it'll be for next month's meeting, so don't worry you guys. It's fine.
but I'll just relay all the information. I know marcus is probably going to add on to.
but we did a brainstorm activity with the horizon students.
we had two white boards, we split the group. We did some ice breakers and stuff,
and we just brainstormed on, what's your stuff do they want to see more and what's not working and what is working?
I'm telling you, the kids in that room, it's crazy because they have so many good ideas.
they were just ready to let out all the ideas. Marcus can attest to this.
>> I remember being middle school and I do not remember being that aware of what was going on around me.
it was very impressive how many ideas, and how many thoughts, and how comfortable they were to share their ideas with us.
>> in middle school, no, I cannot have done that.
marcus and I were really impressed and they were just such a fun group to hang out with. They were awesome.
basically, what they said for what is working is guys,
the cell phone policy. I'm telling you, middle schoolers, back in middle school,
you would not have caught me saying all that, but they admitted. They were like, it's actually working,
and they were really happy because they were saying that they're actually able to talk to their friends,
and now the problem is, how do their teachers get them to shut up and be
quiet [laughter] because they are just talking too much in class. That level of connection and just seeing them do
that and talking about how awesome it was, I was like, we got to tell the board this because the impacts are rippling. It is crazy.
it was really awesome to see that.
they were talking about school, sports, stuff like that all great ,we all know that.
now, it's time to get into stuff that they want to change, maybe things they want a little more of.
something that we've seen a little string in all of our visits,
which we've our second one or something like that. >> yeah, this is our second one. >> second one. Maybe third one.
I don't know. Next month, we have a law, so don't worry you guys. But they want more connections with the other kids in our district.
ever since the cell phone policy, connection, connection, connection.
they want to meet with kids from the high school,
they want to work with kids who are in the elementary schools, which, great for them,
because they have an elementary school right next to them. I think marcus and I will definitely be trying to find ways that we as
student reps can come up with activities and things where they can connect with students outside of their own school.
because it's really easy to be like ferndale high school,
custer cougars, and cascadia gryphons, but we are one district.
it's important to stay aligned and connected to each other because we're all going to end up going
to one high school and we are all connected in so many ways.
we're all alike in so many ways. I think that finding ways to connect them
while they're still in middle school or elementary school would be really awesome.
then also more stuff on paper. We took away one screen.
we took away the phones, but I think another problem that we're seeing is the computers.
don't get me wrong. I love my computer. My chromebook, I use it for a lot of stuff at
school and I do think it's a really important tool. Kids really do use it as that, tools,
because it's not like I can pull up instagram on here or something like that, so it is a tool.
but I think it's really easy sometimes to lean into
the new stuff and the tech and just feel like that's the only way.
a lot of those students were like, in every class that I go to, I am doing an assignment on the computer.
that's where all the stuff is now. It's on your computer, going into canvas,
pull this up, onedrive, word, and I think that in some places that's awesome.
when I'm writing an essay for class, I'm going to need my computer. But I think that paper and pen,
that is just such an important skill. We cannot lose that.
I think it's really important that we listen to those kids and are like,
they're in middle school and they're saying that they do not want to be on their screen right now.
more paper is what they said. They want their teachers to do
more stuff on the paper and all their assignments and stuff. I think it's a great tool.
it really does alleviate distraction. We will find a way.
>> I'd also like to add, I think we could also find a balance in between paper and
the computer because I do feel like recently, just because of the world that we live in,
we do rely on our devices quite a lot and the kids,
what they told us is that the computer isn't the problem.
it's just the fact that we're on it so much. It's not really the fact that it's there,
it's more so that we're on it so much and then we go home and they're on our phones.
it's just a lot of screen time. >> I think that's all they said.
do you want to add on before I finish with my sharing? >> I think harleen is doing a great job.
[laughter] >> marcus, when we switch, you can just add on more.
that's all we really got from horizon. It was a really awesome visit. Really fun.
>> can I ask question or two? >> yeah.
>> with connecting with more kids, did they mean age level peers like middle school to middle school,
or are they thinking cross grade where they might go to
the nearby elementary school and do some helping or something like that? Was that clear?
>> I think that what they emphasized was not just even going to
the high school because when we talked to the elementary school was at central,
they also communicated they wanted to experience more and do more activities with older kids,
just because they're the younger ones. But they were talking about going to the elementary schools and connecting with kids that are younger than them,
and then going to the high school and connecting with kids that are older than them. It goes both ways and from what we've heard,
it goes from them wanting to mentor younger kids and then be mentored by the older kids.
>> love that. I have one more question. The more on paper,
instead of just on the computer for assignments, I just want to say, I love that.
the research shows that kids need to know how to do this.
I know they love to be able to sign their names.
beautiful signatures. >> no, because every time I look at whenever on your notebooks and stuff,
your signature is just so wonderful and I'm like, why does my signature not look like that?
how does she get her n like that? >> I could teach you [overlapping].
>> because I myself can't do all the writing like that.
in my spanish class, that is the one class I think that I have that no computers, nothing.
I think the only time we had our computers out in our spanish class was when we were signing up for
our dual enrollment because it's a utu credit for being in spanish five. Really awesome.
but that's the only time we've been on computers, but we have written essays in that class.
I'm telling you that my hand is cramping by the end because I am first off,
my brain power right now, I'm looking at all my spanish words, and I'm trying to write and it's a lot because normally,
I always do everything on the computer. But I think it's a really important skill.
as much as we love our computers and marcus said that we need our balance,
we need to have some more paper stuff too.
>> does that affect our msocs material supplies and operating costs?
no. We got lots of paper that we can use and there's the paper. >> it's about choices because I can donate paper I got. Lots of paper.
>> from the wada conference, I got to tell you guys, I had a great time this year.
this I mean, out of the two years that I've gone now, I got to tell you this was the best.
I had a lot of fun. Marcus, I know he's going to talk about it too,
but we just had a great time. I have met so many students.
I've made so many connections, so many friends from all these other school districts. We learned so much about how other school districts operate and how their own boards are.
we were bragging about you guys. We have an awesome school board.
it was just really awesome to hear from all these other schools and the friends that we made,
it was really awesome. We are planning some retreats and inviting some students over.
it's going to be really fun to learn about how they operate, because a lot of schools, they are very different from us.
they've got a lot more schools, they have different worries,
they have different values. It was really awesome to see how they operate.
the presentation on the cell phone policy, I was a part of that. It was really awesome to see
how many people were interested in bringing that back to their own schools. I thought we did a great job, you guys.
it was very awesome because also one of the reps from seattle public schools,
which I'm pretty sure that is the biggest district in our entire state.
which there's only three reps. One of them came up to me afterwards,
me and marcus and she was like, are you guys available on wednesday to call because
they themselves are trying to implement this and she wanted marcus's and I opinion.
we were like, my gosh, are you being serious right now because we did not think that we were going to have this effect on other people.
we will keep you guys in the loop about what's going on with that. Then we learned a lot from our bridging the gap pre conference stuff.
there's a lot of fun information that we will be giving out to you guys soon.
but one of the biggest takeaways for me at least with the whole student outreach program and bridging the gap,
is what do you guys want to hear? Because so far, the first few months is that
introductory getting information, brainstorming with students.
but I just want to know what are some specific information you guys want from students?
because that's one of the biggest things we learned from bridging the gap, our pre conference thing that marcus and I attended
was a lot of the directors and superintendents who are there. They kept saying, we love to hear from students,
a lot of stuff like that, which I know you guys all love to hear from us. It makes me feel very honored that I can do this.
but I just want to know what specific stuff do you guys want to hear? Do you want me to create a form?
would that be easier? Do you guys just want to email me or do you want me to email you guys and prompt you?
I don't know. What way would work best for you guys? >> I have one idea. You could work with
selina and then you could create a form that you could send out and then capture the different ideas and then maybe bring those back
and share out what the themes were? Would that work?
>> perfect, guys. Marcus and I we will write this down.
>> actually after thanksgiving, I'll have selina reach out and maybe we can come down the high school and meet with you and help.
>> I think it's interesting that you brought up the paper thing because I also have a friend who's a substitute teacher,
and she mentioned that she thought I needed to have more paperwork particularly with math.
I thought well, that's interesting that at least one teacher thinks that.
>> students agree.
>> just piggybacking off of what harleen said, that the wada conference for me was very impactful.
I feel like I learned so much and I met so many new people and have
so many new connections that probably going to impact my future.
the conference was really amazing, all the breakout room sessions and
all the events that harleen and I attended were just really amazing.
>> can I ask a question? Every year at wada,
it seems like they have student musical groups. How does that happen?
how do they go about deciding who gets to come because we have wonderful musicians in our district.
we have wonderful musicians and I'm just thinking. >> that would be a great question for wada. I don't know.
>> I don't know the particulars as far as exactly how it's done,
but there's nothing more exciting than seeing your students there.
a few years back, steve menefee came down with the drum line and my youngest was part of it,
and that was really cool. It was fun to have it.
they've had, just broadening out. They've had drama presentations where people have performed parts of plays.
they've had the music, the artwork, they've done all kinds of things.
so there's a myriad of things, and that's always one of the best parts of the whole conference.
they should do a concert or evening performance.
it would be cool.
anything else? There are any other questions?
>> thank you. >> thank you, christie. Thank you students.
keeping up with our updates, we'll now move to the budget and our favorite budgetarian, harleen.
[overlapping]
[laughter].
>> thank you. This is our budget finance update for this month.
tonight, I'm going to talk about our annual financial statements that just got completed, the f-196.
I'll do a summary of all of our funds and then do a little bit more in depth on the general fund since that's where all the action happens,
and then talk about our current fund balance. This is one of the first pages of the f-196,
and the f-196 is about 80 pages long. It's pretty dry and boring.
but I pick this page because this summarizes all five of our funds.
like I said, I'll go a little bit more in depth with the general fund, but just wanted to point out asb fund ended with a fund balance of 823,000.
the debt service fund, which is what we used to pay our bonds,
ended with a $4.5 million fund balance.
our capital projects fund ended with $3.7 million in fund balance,
and it's for major projects, buildings, land, major renovations is all that fund can be used for.
the transportation vehicle fund, which is just for school buses,
ended with $1.7 million in fund balance.
any questions about the other four funds, not the general fund?
I aligned this presentation with our citizens budget,
group things the same way. If you wanted to look at the citizens budget and compare where this is actual,
where we actually ended the year, you could. This is our revenue by source.
you can see we got $12.6 million in levy,
in '24, '25, the local non levy, the 682,000,
that is local funds, that's everything from some food service revenue to
just other local donations, smaller grants.
there's just miscellaneous things in there. It's our smallest funding source.
state basic ed was 48.6 million,
state special, which includes our special education as well as all of our state funded grants,
such as lap, highly capable,
that was 20.4 million.
we received 6.6 million in federal funds, and then we received other funds in the amount of 934,000.
I'm going to go through expenditures three different ways, again, aligning with our citizens budget.
the first one is by major program, so we group things together.
these next three slides, all of it is $89 million is what we spent last year,
but it just shows it in different ways. Major programs. The first one is basic education.
that's where we spend the bulk of our money, $59.6 million.
special education is $14.8 million.
we spent $3 million in federal programs other
than the special education allocation that we get from the fed, because that's up above in the special education.
state categorical programs includes all of the state funded grants that we receive, 9.1 million,
and then other services from other entities,
is 2.5 million is what we spent in those. The next way we're looking at it is by major activity.
teaching activity, $53.5 million, that's 60% of our expenditures.
teaching support, that is all those supports our paraeducators,
and other supports that go into the classroom, $10.4 million.
operations is all the things that happen the building, maintenance workers,
custodial, everything else that is operations, not teaching.
in the buildings, is 14.7 million. Administration is the district administrators as well
as the staff at the district office, 5.3 million,
and principals is 5.1 million and that includes not only the principals, but also the administrative assistants that work in the principals offices.
the last way we're going to look at it is by object code, these are state mandated ways that we group things.
certificated salaries is 39.3 million, classified salaries, 17.2 million, employee benefits,
19 million, general supplies, that could be anything from paper to fuel is 4 million,
purchase services includes anything that we contract out. It's not an employee cost,
but somebody else comes in and does some service. That's $9 million.
travel is very small, just over 100,000.
capital outlay that's major equipment purchases 419,000.
as far as looking at our budget. Oh, sorry. Go ahead, peggy.
>> I was just wondering in the previous,
where does insurance premiums land in all of that purchase services?
>> it would be in purchase services. >> thank you. >> that's a big chunk of purchase services, actually.
then our budget versus actual. In our budget, we always estimate our revenues to be
lower than what we might get and our expenditures to be higher just to be conservative with the budget.
we were thinking we get about $91.1 million and we got 89.7.
like I said, we budget in capacity for revenues so we don't know.
that $91 million included about $3 million dollar in revenues that we thought we might get.
it looks like we got about half of that. That's really great.
expenditures, we budgeted 91.4 million and our actual expenditures were 89.2 million.
we were $2.1 million under budget in our expenditures. Then we thought our ending fund balance would be about
5.5 million and we actually ended at 6.7 million.
we were $1.2 million higher than budget.
now, we'll talk about our fund balance. We ended the '24/ '25 school year.
our revenues exceeded our expenditures by $796,000. We added that to our fund balance,
and that's the first time that we've added to fund balance and not taken from it since 2021.
our ending fund balance is 6.8 million,
but we are continuing to be really frugal and just really monitor it all the time.
on the next slide, you'll see, I'll just go to that.
we have a big uptick in october when we collect our property taxes,
and then it really declines over the next six months until april, when we have our second tax collection of the school year.
you can see the trend. It's the same trend that we have every year.
it was a good month,
but we just need to continue to be diligent and watch it.
any questions about any of that?
>> I just like that big jump. It was a big jump.
should last longer.
>> any other questions for holly? As always holly, thank you for making the budget understandable for all of us,
and keeping those numbers organized.
that brings us to the audit committee. >> not much to report. I always feel really silly sitting
here saying this because it's like nancy, and I went in. We looked at both runs of checks.
we didn't find anything alarming, which is what you want to hear.
that was an interesting thing looking at today. For ticket sales, there's a processing fee,
and then there's an invoice fee, and then what was the other fee on top of that?
it's like another bill for getting a bill.
so all the little things they add up.
>> they sure do. Thank you for yet another boring,
uneventful, dull audit committee report. Aim to keep in company.
the day you say, 'well, I've got a lot of exciting things to say' is the day I'm going to be scared,
we will hope it doesn't happen. Moving on to item 9.01.
this is the review of indicators for operational oe three,
our staff hiring treatment evaluation and compensation report or policy in our report.
last month, we acted upon our first operational expectation report generated
since we revised and consolidated our board policies. The report utilized the new indicators that the superintendent
had put forth and the board had reviewed and approved. As we found with our previous policies and indicators,
sometimes monitoring reports bring out deficiencies in the indicators or show that some changes need to be
made to the indicators to strengthen these reports. Our process has been to receive a monitoring report at one meeting,
discuss and act on it at the next and critique the indicators at the third to determine if revisions would be beneficial.
tonight, we will continue that process as we review the indicators, not the content of operational expectations three policy,
addressing staff hiring, treatment, evaluation, and compensation.
any comments, any critiques or suggestions to christie in regards
to how we can strengthen the report by potentially changing indicators or are there things that
were not meant in the report that we would like to see?
>> I don't think there's anything there about retention. It seems to me that that's a really important indicator of how happy
your staff is with their work space.
I think that would be a useful thing to have.
>> I can take that back to the team. I'd like to have a conversation with hr.
yes, I do agree with that and there's lots of reasons people leave.
it could be complicated, so I will review that with the team.
>> good suggestion. Are there others? >> I'm just going through and reading the comments on it to refresh my memory.
data showing whether complaints, about any of these factors have increased or
decreased would be useful just to see a trend. That was on let's see, 3.1,
where it says 'the district maintains up to date personnel rules and procedures that are documented readily accessible through
training and communication to all employees and reviewed regularly for alignment with legal and ethical standards.'
I guess the only thing I wrote about that was if there was data showing whether complaints about
any of those factors was more or less would be useful to show if the rules and procedures are working.
>> I will write that one down. It wouldn't necessarily change the indicator,
but it may be how we share the information moving forward.
>> to bring up the sore spot from last month job descriptions.
I appreciate the fact that you guys are working on that.
I had no idea that things were not all in one place, because historically they have not all been in one place.
I would like to put it out there that that was one of the sources of problems,
that we were coming at it from two different angles. I thought we had more information than we did.
>> they're building it. They're building a system. >> that's good to know. But just so people know,
I thought that we had it because we have a policy that actually says that we should have it.
>> we do have job descriptions. I think it's also important to note that,
if a job was hired and we haven't needed to rehire it for ten years,
we wouldn't want to use the job description that was originally written. There`s sometimes too, it's a refinement of job descriptions.
once they're built, they don't stay stagnant. Because time changes, one,
the ability to use technology might change. When I got here,
we didn't have anything in there about employees being bilingual,
that being a strength. These are things that we continue to evolve.
but again, cara will always be happy to meet with you. >> on a related note,
organizational chart, org charts.
that would be helpful. >> anytime we can show that to you,
they continue to shrink. I've shared them in the past with you,
but they change every year depending on the jobs. So, we can continue to refine that.
>> other thoughts or suggestions?
not seeing any others. We'll leave that to christie and her team to come back with
suggestions or ideas and move forward. >> if other things come to mind in between,
can we email those? I realize it's better to have it here so that people know we're thinking it.
>> one thing is some of the things we may not. If you look at the policy.
if you look at the superintendent will and the superintendent may not, that is the board's part.
I'd be really interested, did you capture that part? Then the team and I take that and we interpret what we believe that means.
just sharing these pieces, but what I don't want to have happen is it getting so big.
I want it to be the most important information. This is super helpful here and some of the things may not
show up in this monitoring report because they're nice to knows. But having an organizational chart, for example, yes,
that is super important and nice to know, but it may not change the outcome of what the superintendent will do,
and the superintendent may not. Always email, it just may not show up in the policy if that makes sense.
>> then that brings us on to items 10 and 11 of our meeting.
the superintendent and board consent agendas. For those that have been here before,
you've heard me say these are a group of routine items that the board is allowed to pass
with one motion as opposed to voting on each item individually.
these are typically a bunch of routine items that have come before the board.
typically renewals of contracts and such and general routine business.
on tonight's consent agenda, we have four policies. As a reminder policy with minor changes driven by changes in law that don't
impact the intent of the policy are typically introduced and adopted on the same night.
this is the case with policy 622. The only change to this policy are changes that increase
the acquisition related thresholds for inflation. The other three policies 1,111,
the oath of office, 42 60, the use of school facilities, and 6250.
cellular telephones have more extensive changes and are being introduced this month,
so the public and the board have time to consider them before acting on them next month.
as always, we encourage the public to review these policies and share any thoughts you have
about them with the board prior to the next meeting or during public comment time at the next meeting.
so we can take your thoughts into consideration when acting on these policies.
with that, the chair will entertain
a motion or any questions or discussions on the consent agendas.
>> motion that we approve both the consent agendas.
>> it has been moved that we approve both the superintendent and board consent agendas.
all those in favor signify by saying aye. All opposed? The consent agendas have been passed.
we're in the home stretch. I haven't made amy's desired 45 minutes, but I think I'm doing good.
per policy 1210, tonight is when the board
elects our president and vice president to serve for the coming year. We will start by electing our 2026 board president and then our vice president.
per our discussion last month, the current president will oversee the elections and finish out
tonight's meeting and the newly elected president and vice president will assume their roles at our next meeting.
any questions? >> yes. I just want to make sure on the procedure.
nominations, people make nominations until you determine everybody stop nominating?
people can make statements nominated?
>> we will open the floor for nominations. Nominations can be made and or people can volunteer to serve in roles.
once we've exhausted the nominations, then the nominations will be closed.
if people want to make any statements, they'll have time to do that. Then per the policy,
we will have a roll call vote.
>> are we just starting with president first? >> we'll start with president and then we will do vice president.
the other elected role on the board,
the ledger rep is done in june of even years,
if I'm doing that correctly. I didn't write that one down,
doing that one from memory. Any other questions?
>> may I make a nomination? >> at this time, the floor is open for nominations for president.
>> I nominate dr. Kevin erickson for president.
>> are there any other nominations?
it used to be when we did this at the wada meeting, and you guys never experienced that.
the official policy was you had to ask, are there any other nominations three times?
the third time, it seemed repetitive. One more time, are there any other nominations?
then the nominations for president are myself.
I had on here, are they willing to serve? I would say yes,
and I thank you for your support. We will go ahead and do the roll call.
brian, we'll start with you. Who would you like to vote for for president? I know it's really weird.
>> kevin. >> thank you. Antonio?
>> dr. Erickson. Other. I'm just kidding, just kidding.
>> I appreciate that. That's good. >> of course. No that was a joke.
I highly support dr. Erickson. >> peggy?
>> kevin. >> nancy?
>> director erickson. >> I got more names than I can keep track of.
I will vote for myself, why not? It seems to be the going theme.
I'm happy to announce that kevin has been elected to serve as the board president for the next year.
again, I thank you for you guys' support, and I will continue to try and do you proud.
at this time, I will go ahead and open the floor for nominations for vice president.
>> I nominate oh, I'm sorry. >> no go for it.
>> I nominate peggy uppiano.
>> other nominations? >> I would like to nominate antonio machado.
>> are there any other nominations?
>> not mine. >> I hear it, but well,
just pretend it isn't there? One last time, are there any other nominations?
>> then we will go ahead and have our roll call vote. >> do you want them to say anything?
>> sorry. Thank you. Peggy I'll let you start.
>> I'm wanting to run for vice president again because I'm available and reliable.
I have shown up for every meeting and I have filled in when needed.
also, I've made an effort in the past to make sure that it's inclusive
and invite people in to other board directors in to
have an opportunity to sit in on the agenda planning meetings by swapping myself out because I think it's
necessary for us all as co equals to have an equal balance of information.
>> thank you. Antonio. >> yeah, I would be very happy to participate as a vice president here,
just because I think that relationships are very important. And it's very important when we have things to work on,
that we have an ability to connect and
an ability to listen and understand and then really
try to to apply the knowledge that we have as a board
and help the president make a decision on things and focus when it comes to what's best for the kids.
so I would take this opportunity as seriously as I can and with an ability to
put more focus the items that we need to work on and
specifically with the engagement that we need to build not only with the school district kids,
but with stakeholders and the community in general.
>> thank you. Our nominees for vice president are peggy and antonio,
and I'm assuming based on their comments that they're both willing to serve in the role of vice president.
we'll start with our roll call vote. We'll start again with brian.
>> antonio.
>> peggy. >> peggy.
>> antonio. >> antonio. >> nancy. >> peggy.
>> that leaves me in a precarious position. I saw it common.
I'm going to vote for antonio. I'm happy to announce that antonio has been
elected to serve as our board vice president for the coming year. So thank you for all of you for your willingness and service.
>> congratulations.
>> mike. >> mike. >> if both the president and vice president are on who fills in.
>> we will hopefully not have that situation arise, but if it does,
then we would have to have a board consensus or determine how
to because we'd still be able to have a meeting if all other three others are there because we'd have quorum.
but hopefully that won't be the case. >> I'm thinking that we will very closely.
work together so that we're not both out at the same time.
>> as I actually looked ahead in the two things that took me out this last year.
I shouldn't have any things, so hopefully I won't have any absences, but I'll coordinate with antonio if I foresee anything that way. Any other questions?
>> kevin, do you need to put a motion forward to accept the nominations.
>> I don't know if we need to where we've had the vote. But I could stand to be corrected.
>> it looks like we've done that in the past. >> just had a motion. >> motion to accept you two as the new officers.
>> I'm happy to do that.
>> the board or the chair will put forth the motion to vote that we
accept kevin as our board president and antonio for our board vice president for the coming year.
so all those in favor signify by saying aye. >> aye.
>> all opposed. >> then it's official. Thank you, chris.
>> now I will go ahead and move us to item 13.01,
which is board sharing, and I'll go ahead and start with antonio.
>> I would just like to say thank you for to steve again and recognize the hard work.
there's some long hours when we study these things and also
travel and there's a lot of service for the kids that goes unnoticed,
but that we do. Steve served very well,
and also welcome to brian. Brian, I'm very excited for you to be here.
I really, I consider you a friend,
but at the same time, I know how dedicated you are to the school district. People know you in the school district.
you're not unfamiliar face, and you definitely have more swag than probably even eric trip, I think.
[laughter] everything you wear has an f a big f on your chest,
and it's just a messaging that fs in fern do,
not as anything else. You love for the school district shows,
and I'm so happy to have you and looking forward to serving with you.
>> brian, will let you lead off with your swag, I guess.
>> I'm new here. I wasn't real sure here at the beginning,
how much to participate, but I will say at the wada conference, everyone was great.
I felt like I knew people right away and I've known people for years in the group.
I was a fantastic experience, and I'm definitely looking forward to more of this,
and I'm excited about the retreat will be sooner than later. I'll be great.
>> peggy. >> I would also like to say welcome, brian.
I'm really going to miss steve. I feel like we were thrown in the trenches together.
very first meeting was horrific for lack of a better word, and he served as a very good sounding board,
as I said, over the time that we served together.
I'm going to miss that. I also want to thank antonio on his victory.
I do hope you will make an effort to be inclusive of other board members in sharing
information and keeping us all in an inner circle and not excluded.
I think the wada conference was wonderful.
there were a whole lot of- there was a whole lot of information that came out of it that I was unaware of before it was a really,
I think, money well spent. I know it was expensive, but it was,
this one was fantastic in terms of the amount of information. I came away with.
I hope that if you guys gathered information because you went to different sessions that you will share it with the rest of us.
I attended a session from ospi that was quite good.
one in particular from issaquah school district on
school improvement plans that was phenomenal and I hope that
maybe we can take some of the information from them and put it to
use rather than reinvent the wheel because they said they spent over a decade working on it.
they worked all the kinks out of it and they have a product that looks nice and easy to follow
and I think it would benefit us to have a good look at what is doing.
on that note, I'll pass it to nancy.
>> I just want to add welcome to brian.
you're in for a fun ride. Let me tell you you're going to learn so much so quickly and learn about the district.
welcome. It's wonderful to have you on the team. I'll miss steve too,
but I am excited about it feels like a new board when you get even one person on it.
it also feels good not to be the newbie to feel like,
I've got two years under my belt now. I know that's not very much, but it's more than a newbie.
come to any of us with questions and if you just need to know how to do stuff,
all of us, I'm sure, are very willing to help you with that.
I just want to echo peggy's remarks. This was an incredible wada experience.
I felt like our time was well spent. And I feel like I learned so much.
I too hope that during our retreat, we'll be able to share the things that we learned and picked up.
on each of the different breakout sessions that we went to.
congratulations also to kevin and to antonio for being our president and vice president.
I think we're off to a really good start for this new year.
>> thank you all. I'm feeling in the thanksgiving mood at this point.
first, I want to welcome as everyone else, brian, to the team.
I want to assure you that brian is not afraid to ask questions.
I've been getting [inaudible] on his questions to christie and the team
and he will be asking a lot and good questions.
he brings a good perspective to there that we haven't had. As much as I'll miss steve,
I think that brian is going to be a good replacement, so we're going to be a strong team.
I certainly want to thank everybody for their making
wada priority being there for the great conversations that we were able to have,
I think that that has set us up for a good starting point moving
forward as a new team and look forward to the great things that we're going to accomplish.
certainly, peggy, I think, having time at our retreat to share some of the things we learned and look at
some of the things that are there and what can we emulate, what can we learn from is going to be important.
I also want to just shout out again to the students for the awesome job that they did.
like I said, it was a proud daddy moment. You could have been my own kids and I wouldn't have
felt prouder it was thank you for doing the district well.
with that, I will wrap things up,
but one thing I did do, again, I was feeling in the thanksgiving mood,
and I mentioned this to the board on behalf of the board.
I wrote thank you notes to the great support system that we have. These people sitting behind me to the sides of them,
and this great lady sitting next to me, really do the work of the board.
tell them what we want done and they figure out how to do it and they figure out how to
do it with a budget that keeps shrinking in relatively speaking.
the number goes up, but with balance for inflation,
it's not any better than it had been. I just wanted to publicly thank them and I'm going to walk away from-
>> absolutely. [background]
>> amazed at how much came to mind about all the people that I was
writing about and just how good it made me feel about the people that I work with.
thank you. With that, I will go ahead and move us on to item 14.01,
which is our school board evaluation of the meeting, and peggy.
that is true. I'm just reading the script.
I think in the essence of thanksgiving,
I think we did a great job, and I'm going to call it good at that. Thank you.
>> thank you, kevin. >> with that being said, one last thing before adjourn,
I would like to clarify just for those that are looking for something exciting to do during the holiday season of december.
that our next business meeting is on december 16, it's not on the 30th.
we always have it early because school being closed. Mark that on your calendar.
don't want to miss it. You don't want to show up here on the 30th and be disappointed that you missed another great exciting meeting.
I'd also like to wish everyone a very happy thanksgiving.
amy, I promise to try and keep the meetings shorter in the coming year.
thank you all for coming and this meeting is adjourned.