Board Reorganization: Director Perkins nominated Director Gronwoldt for President. She declined but then nominated Director Witherspoon for a second year. Director Julie Bocanegra seconded it.

Director Bocanegra nominated Director Perkins for vice-president. Director Gronwoldt seconded it. All voted yes except Director Wilson who abstained.

Director Gronwoldt nominated Director Bocanegra for Legislative Rep. Director Perkins seconded it. All voted yes.

Fall Sports Review: Outstanding student athletes and coaches were recognized.

Public Comments: Sabrina Seymour, mom of a football player at Union High. Evidently the coach was suspended for profanity at locker room speech. It was secretly recorded. No complaints were made. Allegedly the recording was done by a parent of a former student. Supposedly the parent, who did the recording, has a grievance against the coach. Ms. Seymour feels that the board’s decision based on a secret recording is a slippery slope. She is asking that the board rescind the suspension.

Carmen Jomakers. Student at Evergreen Her comment was that two men came into the female bathroom. There is a non-gender bathroom so she is questioning why these men were there.

Danielle Sirmak (sp?). Educator in the district. She is wondering what EPS will do about immigrant families who are at risk from ICE. She acknowledges that the district is providing resources. She states that other districts are holding ICE training. She wants families to be alerted if ICE is present.

Camille Loman stated that she contacted the district about safety issues. It took 5 weeks for a response. She claims staff don’t feel comfortable complaining about safety concerns. Also, she did a public record request and learned that the safety director drove around during the teacher strike 2 years ago photographing teachers on strike. Evidently the safety director then sent an email with the pictures to the HR director and they both made derogatory comments about the teachers.

Board Consent Agenda: Director Perkins moved, Director Bocanegra seconded it. Motion passed

Superintendent Consent Agenda: Director Gronwoldt moved, Director Bocanegra seconded it. Motion passed.

Superintendent Report: She has visited schools lately.

School funding. It’s bad right now. Facing a $12 million dollar deficit. There is now a community budget committee.
Meeting with the leadership team: the key topics are immigration, homelessness, belonging and post-secondary pathways.
School Improvement Plan. Encouraging building leaders to make this a living document.

Teaching, Learning and Equity Update Explanation of how elementary students are learning, reading, writing and phonics. Balanced literacy. They are rolling out a shared Instructional Leadership Guide used in all elementary schools.

Student Board Representative. Students are tired (a complaint often made by student reps). Club activities have picked up. There was a WASDA conference for student reps. She found it beneficial.

Good News Report. Unified sports are happening in middle schools. Students with disabilities and students without play basketball together. All for fun. Fircrest did a canned food drive. Competitive puzzling has become a district wide program. Attendance initiative is working. Image was up by 10%.

Board Comments: Director Bocanegra visited Heritage and talked about her work as a superintendent. Director Wilson reminded the audience that the board doesn’t handle disciplinary problems as in the case of the suspended coach. Director Wilson is also concerned about the men appearing in the women’s bathroom. He explained he abstained in voting for Director Perkins. He doesn’t believe he is being disciplined or censured and that his name would come up in the rotation. He was disappointed not to be nominated. Director Perkins said there should be a workshop about how officers are selected. He is advocating for a policy review. Director Perkins said he spoke with a demographer at the WASDA conference. Birth rates are even lower than what was predicted.

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