5-8-01 Board Meeting

EVERETT PUBLIC SCHOOLS
EVERETT, WASHINGTON Regular Meeting

The Board of Directors of Everett Public Schools, Snohomish County, Washington, held a regular Board meeting on Tuesday, August 23, 2005, beginning at 4:30 p.m., in the Board Room of the Educational Service Center, 4730 Colby Avenue, Everett, Washington. Those in attendance were Kristie Dutton, Karen Madsen, Sue Cooper and Paul Roberts. Absent: Roy Yates. In the absence of President Yates, Vice President Dutton conducted the meeting.

BOARD ACTION AND/OR BOARD DISCUSSION
Vice President Dutton called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. and moved immediately into executive session for discussion of negotiations. It was estimated the executive session would be of one hour’s duration. Vice President Dutton adjourned the executive session at 4:25 p.m. and re-convened the regular meeting at 4:30 p.m.
EXEC.SESSION—NEGOTIATIONS
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Vice President Dutton called for any recommended changes to the agenda. Superintendent Carol Whitehead reported that there would be a revised personnel report and correction of a typographical error in Item 8(a)9, page 3, paragraph 1.5. A corrected version of Item 8(a)9 was delivered to the Board yesterday. With that, Paul Roberts moved for adoption of the revised agenda. Sue Cooper seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Karen Madsen moved for approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of July 5, 2005. Sue Cooper seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
SUPERINTENDENT’S COMMENTS
Superintendent Whitehead opened her comments with a reminder about the new staff in-service on Thursday, August 26, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Cascade High School. The event is sponsored by the Everett Public Schools Foundation.

Next, Dr. Whitehead called on Jim McNally, Executive Director for Area 1, to introduce the new assistant principal for Everett High School. He is Jack Roy and comes to Everett from Lakewood School District. Jim described the selection process for this position as lengthy and comprehensive. Jack is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, has worked at Mount Vernon High School and, most recently, at Lakewood High School. Jack is known for his ability to develop strong professional relationships with staff and students. He exhibits a devotion to duty and calmness under pressure, especially in emergency situations, as well as skill at fully implementing school district protocols and policies. Jack commented that he is extremely pleased to be in Everett and at Everett High School. The staff members have been very welcoming. He thanked his wife, Gloria, for her support. Vice President Dutton welcomed Jack to the District.
SUPT’S COMMENTS
Jim introduced Janelle Phinney as the new principal at Jackson Elementary School. Janelle has served as assistant principal at Hawthorne Elementary School for three years and is a product of Everett Public Schools. Her career has included employment in Northshore and Mukilteo School Districts. Janelle has been involved in the University of Washington’s Danforth Program. She is excited to have the opportunity to lead Jackson Elementary School, a place where the staff’s energy and teamwork is amazing.

Lynn Evans, Area 2 Executive Director, introduced Elizabeth Nunes, who has also been in the District for three years as assistant principal at Garfield Elementary School. Elizabeth’s newest assignment will be that of assistant principal at Gateway Middle School. Her background includes having taught middle school music and coaching. She has also completed her second master’s degree, this time in reading. Elizabeth said she enjoys being in Everett Public Schools and looks forward to working at the middle school level.

Dr. Whitehead said that preliminary interviews for the Woodside Elementary School principalship have been completed. Second-level interviews will take place next week.

Next, Dr. Whitehead called on Associate Superintendent for Instruction Karst Brandsma who introduced Everett High School’s athletic director, Jo Levin. He said that Jo has been listed eighth among the top 50 athletes in Washington. Karst listed Jo’s many athletic accomplishments and said she is a true asset to the community. Jo said she appreciates everything that Everett has done for her.

Dr. Whitehead referred to the recommendations for changes in the culture at Everett High School and said the new principal at that school, Catherine Matthews, has done many things to address the issues mentioned in the climate report. Dr. Whitehead called on Ms. Matthews to provide an update of activities. After thanking the Board for inviting her to tonight’s meeting, Catherine said that among her first activities when arriving in Everett was to hold two meetings with a group of Hispanic parents. She then began developing a plan of action. She met with representatives from three community groups: Van Kuno (representing the Refugee Forum), Winnie Corral (representing Familias Unidas), and Tina Ellison (representing the Everett Housing Authority) to hear the concerns they had heard from their clients as well as to develop partnerships to work on future programs to help students and parents access Everett High School in a productive way. Some of Catherine’s work with Van Kuno has been to develop a multi-language voice mail system for parents who call Everett High School, but they speak a language other than English. These parents can now call a special number which goes to an answering machine that explains that they can leave a message in their language. Translators from the Refugee Forum wil l collect and translate the messages and contact the District office who will get in touch with the appropriate Everett High School administrator and the administrator will arrange a three-way conversation (school/translator/parent). Catherine further reported that the school’s auto-dialer message will be re-recorded in five languages to notify parents of absences and major events. The Everett High School Student Diversity Team held its first meeting on August 11. It was of eight hours’ duration and included creation of a flyer (in cooperation with the Refugee Forum) that was sent to all 1,650 Everett High School students, not only in English but in the identified home language of the recipient (Arabic, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese and Spanish). They created a mission and vision statement for their club along with a calendar of events for the year. A system is being developed to send important documents to the three most frequently contacted groups in the community (Refugee Forum, Familias Unidas and Everett Housing Authority). Catherine attended the “National Night Out Against Crime” at Familias Unidas. Several parent nights will be held this fall in several languages. The Information Systems department will conduct training on the IMS (Instructional Management System) so parents can better access and understand the system— translators will help and will be trained so that they can answer parents’ questions and assist parents in accessing the system. Five administrators attended “School Talk 2”, which is a series of forums being held to hear community concerns and share information about school district activities. EHS assistant principals and an intern will be going into classrooms to teach a unit on anti-harassment and anti-bullying. Diversity training will take place tomorrow for all Everett High School staff. On September 6, the administrative and security personnel are being trained in de-escalation techniques and conflict resolution. The system for accessing translators is being streamlined. In closing, Catherine reported that she and other administrators are planning to attend two trainings conducted by the Washington Association for Multi-Cultural Education. Karst acknowledged Van Kuno and thanked her for her continuing assistance and support. Van said her organization values the partnerships with Everett Public Schools. Dr. Whitehead said she is pleased with the progress made by Catherine in such a short time. It is clear that a great deal of collaboration is taking place. Board member Roberts expressed his appreciation for the good work that has been happening.

Dr. Whitehead reported that the District recently received a $46,000 grant from Boeing for math and science. In addition, Boeing funded the District’s student calendars/handbooks again this year. Copies will be distributed on the first day of school.

Next, Dr. Whitehead referenced two articles that were on the front page of the “Local” section of the August 22, 2005, edition of The Herald (E:225/05). One of the articles was about a summer language program for ELL (English language learner) students. The second article dealt with the Summer Success Bridge program which is designed to help eighth graders transition to high school.

In other good news, Dr. Whitehead referenced a letter she received from OSPI (Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction) complimenting the District on the administration of the WASL and the fact that there were no lost test booklets.

Regarding the WASL, Dr. Whitehead reported that unofficial test data looks good. The District is hopeful that the results will show improvement in every area measured at every grade level. A general rule of thumb is that scores rise significantly when the percent of students not meeting standard decreases by least ten percent. With that in mind, Dr. Whitehead reported that in fourth grade reading in 2004, the percent of students not meeting standard was 23 percent. For 2005, a gain of 2.3 percent was hoped for, but the District actually achieved a gain of 5.1 percent. In fourth grade writing, the District hoped for a gain of 4.3 percent, but achieved 11.8 percent. In fourth grade mathematics, a hoped-for gain of 4.0 percent is actually 4.8 percent. In fourth grade science, the District hoped for a 6.5 percent gain, but achieved 7.0 percent.

In middle school, students at grade seven showed marked improvement in each area tested. In reading, the District had hoped for a significant improvement of 3.3 percent and actually achieved an improvement of 8.1 percent. In writing, the hoped-for gain was 4.7 percent, but a 7.2 percent was actually achieved. In mathematics, the hoped-for increase of 5.3 percent was actually a 6.0 percent improvement. In science, improvement was 1.6 percent less than hoped for, but is still and indication that the initial phase of the three-year project to improve middle school science is beginning to show promise.

At grade 10, there was significant improvement in reading at 4.8 percent, thus exceeding the 2.9 percent hoped-for achievement. In the areas of mathematics, science and writing, the margin of improvement in the District average is less strong. Scores in mathematics and writing were flat while science improved by 1.4 percent. The initial phase of the high school science plan will begin next year. In conclusion, Dr. Whitehead said the District is very pleased and proud of these (unofficial) test results.

In a separate measure of achievement, the state released the ACT College Readiness scores, for which only a small percentage of students are tested. Washington State continues to perform well on this national test with a ranking of third in the nation in composite score. The 125 students who were tested in Everett Public Schools scored at the state level in composite scores.
Dr. Whitehead called on Karst Brandsma to discuss changes in the District’ s IMS (Instructional Management System). The IMS is used extensively by staff, is monitored regularly by students and serves as a good resource for parents. Among the improvements will be changes in the gradebook portion of the program as well as improving the access process for parents. Parents will be notified in writing of this change. With the improvements, it is likely that there will be few staff members who do not use the system.

Next, Dr. Whitehead provided an update concerning the special education lawsuit, of which Everett is one of the participants along with a number of other school districts. In July, the State requested that the case be stayed indefinitely or continue it until the spring of 2007. They argued that the Legislature took some initial action in the 2005 session, including the funding of the Washington Learning study, by allocating $1.7 million for that study. The State argued that the court should allow the Governor and the Legislature to complete their work before taking any action. In addition, the attorneys argued that they did not have enough time to prepare their case, even though the lawsuit was filed in September 2004 and even though the districts have spent an inordinate amount of time collecting the information requested by the State. On August 19, Judge McPhee, of the Thurston County Superior Court, stayed the trial and indicated he would set a new trial date for the fall of 2006, saying he wanted to show judicial restraint but there are limits to this restraint and he would not want to continue the trial past next fall. Even though the districts are disappointed by the judge’s decision, they are also encouraged that the judge set a time by when he wants to hold the trial. Judge McPhee also directed the parties to continue to prepare for trial and to reach an agreement on a schedule for completing discovery and presenting motions to help narrow the issues in the case.

Dr. Whitehead shared copies of a letter from Standard and Poor’s recognizing Everett Public Schools as one of 15 districts in the state who have narrowed the black-white achievement gap (attached). This is a significant recognition.

SUPT’S COMMENTS (cont’d.)

SUPT’S COMMENTS (cont’d.)

SUPT’S COMMENTS (cont’d.)

PUBLIC COMMENT
Vice President Dutton outlined the rules for Public Comment and then called on the following individual who had submitted a card:
1) Leanne Roe —parent of student at Everett High School—Speaking from a prepared text, Ms. Roe discussed her son’s placement at Everett High School vs. Dartmoor School (E:226/05).

RECOGNITION OF RETIREES
Coordinator of Communications and Partnerships Lauren Hadley reported that no retirees were present.

ITEMS FOR INFORMATION
The Administration provided an update on summer maintenance and construction activities. Bob Collard opened the presentation by saying that, in his short time in the District, he has been impressed with the maintenance and facilities/planning areas. These departments take a focused and dedicated approach.
PUBLIC COMMENT

RECOGNITION OF RETIREES

UPDATE— Summer Maintenance & Construction Activities
Director of Facilities and Planning Mike Gunn provided an update on a number of projects. He shared aerial photographs of the Eisenhower and Emerson remodels as well as the Everett High School parking lot project and the Mill Creek Elementary sand field replacement. One field per summer is being converted to grass and there are three fields remaining. Portables are being moved and some are being demolished. Everyone is working very hard to get ready for the start of school. Mike said 24 parking spaces were added at Everett High School.
Director of Maintenance and Operations Gary Jefferis reported that staff members have processed thousands of work order requests as well as initiating in-house work orders for preventive maintenance, etc. Flooring projects, cleaning, moss control, boiler cleaning and servicing, air filter changes, managing unwanted vegetation, annual inspections and weekly mowing are among the many activities of the department. Gary praised the department crew for all they do to ensure the schools are safe for District students.

Vice President Dutton congratulated the staff on their exceptional work.

UPDATE— Summer Maintenance & Construction Activities
(cont’d.)
The attached proposed revised Policy 4210—School Support Organizations (regarding employee participation) was presented to the Board of Directors for first reading, with adoption to be requested at a future Board meeting (E:227/05). PROPOSED REVISED POLICY 4210—SCHOOL SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS ( regarding employee participation )— 1^st reading
The attached curriculum materials, regarding the selection of English Language Learner (ELL) supplementary secondary language arts textbook materials, were presented to the Board of Directors for first reading, with adoption to be requested at a future Board meeting (E:228/05).

Director of Categorical Programs Sue Dedrick said that meeting the needs of the District’s ELL students is a challenge. Materials are needed that are appropriate for various skill levels of ELL students. A materials review committee was created. They developed a checklist and considered four programs as well as listened to presentations by publishers’ representatives. Of the programs reviewed, the Visions Introductory Program was chosen to best meet the needs of District students. Next, the District Instructional Resources Review Committee reviewed and approved the materials. The materials were made available for public examination before being submitted to the Board of Directors for first reading.

When asked whether the materials work for children who can read in their home language as well as for those who have no reading skills, Sue said yes. She emphasized that these materials are much-needed and provide good continuity for the students.
PROPOSED ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER (ELL) SUPPLEMENTARY SECONDARY LANGUAGE ARTS TEXTBOOK SELECTION—1^ST READING
Financial Reports were provided for the Board of Directors’ review (E:229/05). The reports include year-to-date information on revenues and expenditures, General Fund projections, a cash report and an investment summary. Bob Collard said the District is on track and operating as planned, and is progressing along a positive curve. FINANCIAL REPORTS AS OF JUNE 30 & JULY 31, 2005
ACTION ITEMS
Sue Cooper moved for approval of the revised Consent Agenda items. Paul Roberts seconded the motion.
1) Personnel Report (revised) (E:230/05);
2) Voucher Lists (E:231/05);
3) Monetary Gift to Penny Creek Elementary School in the Amount of $6,000 for the Purpose of Providing Grade-Level Grants (E:232/05);
4) Monetary Gift to Penny Creek Elementary School in the Amount of $6,000 for the Purpose of Purchasing Ken-A-Vision Viewers & Microscopes (E:233/05);
5) Monetary Gift to James Monroe Elementary School in the Amount of $10,000 for the Purpose of Purchasing Books for the Guided Reading Program (E:234/05);
6) Monetary Gift to James Monroe Elementary School in the Amount of $5,000 for the Purpose of Purchasing a Public Address System for the School’s Gymnasium (E:235/05);
7) Approval of Contract Between Everett School District and Everett Public Schools Foundation for 2005-2006 (E:236/05);
8) Tentative Agreement Between Everett School District and the Everett Association of Paraeducators (E:237/05);
9) Restatement of Everett School Employee Benefit Trust (revised) (E:238/05);
10) Revision to Positions on Professional/Technical Salary Schedule (E:239/05); and
11) Amendment to Contract for the Transportation of Students (E:240/05).

The motion carried unanimously.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Administration recommended the Board of Directors adopt Resolution 837: Adoption of Fiscal Year 2005-2006 Budget (Res.29/05). Bob Collard introduced Director of Finance Jeff Moore who credited Budget Analysts Shirley Rochon and Karen Buchmann for their superb work on the budgets. Following a PowerPoint presentation, Jeff first discussed the General Fund budget. There has been relatively no change since the preliminary budget was presented to the Board on July 5. The budget continues to use the Strategic Plan to guide allocations. A relatively flat enrollment is anticipated for the 2005-2006 school year and there will be a prudent expenditure of the fund balance. The budget follows historical methodologies and the allocation hierarchy provides little flexibility. Jeff then outlined the allocation percentages and changes in the 2005-2006 budget. He provided a financial summary and showed a seven-year charting of the fund balance. He discussed revenues and expenditures, followed by a look to the future. He said use of a multi-year vision is a critical component of the budget.

Jeff then reviewed figures for the ASB (Associated Student Body), Debt Service, Capital Projects and Transportation Vehicle Fund budgets.

At Board request, Jeff will collect and provide information about the percentage increase in utilities that is anticipated.

In closing, Bob reiterated his kudos to Jeff, Shirley and Karen and to Jeff Riddle. He said it is nice to come into a budget situation like this.

With no further discussion, Paul Roberts moved to adopt Resolution 837 regarding the Fiscal Year 2005-2006 Budget. Karen Madsen seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION 837: ADOPTION OF FISCAL YEAR 2005-2006 BUDGET
The Administration recommended the Board of Directors adopt the District’s Strategic Plan for the 2005-2006 school year (E:241/05). Karst Brandsma reviewed the process for arriving at the 2005-2006 Strategic Plan and noted the use of language that includes “action” words such as “ integrate” and “implement.”
Sue Cooper moved for adoption of the 2005-2006 Strategic Plan. Paul Roberts seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
ADOPTION OF STRATEGIC PLAN FOR 2005-2006

ADOPTION OF STRATEGIC PLAN FOR 2005-2006
(cont’d.)
BOARD COMMENTS
Board member Roberts reported that he recently attended a community gathering at the Islamic Center of Everett. He also indicated that, as the Board’s legislative chair, he will be attending the WSSDA Legislative Conference in September. He then congratulated Dr. Whitehead upon her inauguration as president of WASA (Washington Association of School Administrators) for the 2005-2006 year.

With no further comments, Vice President Dutton adjourned the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.

BOARD COMMENTS
_____________________________ ________________________________ Carol Whitehead, Secretary Kristie Dutton, Vice President