Directors Present: Gary Wilson, Ginny Gronwoldt, Julie Bocanegra and Rob Perkins, Superintendent Moloney.
Consent Agenda: Director Gronwoldt moved and Director Bocanegra seconded it. Motion passed.
Special Recognition of this year’s retirees.
Superintendent Report: Shared a presentation she did for the building leaders. Her topic was equity, “It’s how we operate.”. She outlined a list of roles to accomplish this. Transition to Kindergarten is being retained by shifting money from an open position to opening another classroom. There will be an extreme focus on math.
Teaching, Learning and Equity Update: Academic spotlight on a special needs child at Hearthwood. He was at a specialized school for students with emotional needs. A team worked with him to help him make the transition.
Two teachers were recognized by Identity Clark County for their outstanding work.
Student Board Report Students are less stressed because the testing is done. Happy that there is a multicultural assembly at each high school now. The career center has done an amazing job to guide students for post graduation options. Also a reminder that there is a translation ear piece for people speaking in another language. Grateful to the board that they have supported the performing arts.
Public Comments Kendall Tieman reviews the timeline of the supplemental contracts. Why were there false statements made? Says there are ethical problems with the board. He went over time and was cut off.
Clarissa Hightower: Reminded the board that Vancouver city has set aside money for the districts to use for performing arts. The superintendent wanted to meet with each person individually (the group that is advising the school board). They declined because they wanted to meet with her as a group. They have lots of ideas when they meet with her.
Kye Hargis, student: unhappy about the staffing cuts. She says they will impact the most vulnerable students–particularly the staff that are language specialists. Unhappy about cuts to 5th grade band.
Samuel Sanchez Moreno, student: freshman at Union. Also, against the 5th grade band cuts.
Bethany Pia, parent: unhappy at how difficult it is to get special help for students. It took her 15 months to get an accurate IEP for her student.
Camille Lowman: unhappy about supplemental contracts. Feels that the district is covering up and lying. Went over the entire timeline again. Compared this to the superintendent who was arrested for covering up sexual misconduct recently.
Kristy Peake, President of Evergreen Education Association: there will be a vote of no confidence for Ms. Gomes.
Spanish name I could not get: thanked the board for a chance to be a representative for the Spanish speaking students.
Katherine Fertick: also unhappy about supplemental contracts
Kristen Edmonston, teacher: bargaining update. There have been four sessions. EEA has 32 proposals and the district has 20 proposals. There are at least 7 tentative agreements.
Adam Aguliera: member of EEA. Another complaint against the people who received the money from the supplemental contracts.
Angie Bunda: another complaint against the supplemental contracts. Compared the actions of Janae Gomes to the superintendent who was recently suspended. She pointed out how much money was spent defending and covering Gomes’s actions. Called for the firing of Gomes and Superintendent Moloney.
Phil Cornish: recommend the board report an incident that happened in the girls’ bathroom to the police. Not sure what the incident was. Evidently it was one student harassing another one. Chair Perkins asked that Superintendent Moloney give the board a follow up in the next executive session.
Elijah Owen, student: asked that the board really listen to what previous speakers have said and take action. Reminded the board not to run the district like a business but as a community.
Board Consent Agenda: Director Gronwoldt moved and Director Bocanegra seconded it. Motion passed.
Superintendent Consent Agenda. Director Gronwoldt moved and Director Bocanegra seconded it. Motion passed.
Board Action: Board made positive comments about all the candidates for school board position. They voted. Director Bocanegra voted for Willie Williams, Director Gronwoldt voted for Willie Williams. Director Wilson voted for Angela Gonzales. Director Perkins voted for Tanya English. Not a clear majority. Director Perkins asked for comments. Directors Bocanegra and Gronwoldt chose Mr. Williams because of his educational background. Director Wilson chose Mr. Gonzales because of his work in mental health. Director Perkins liked Ms. English because of her bilingual background. They voted again. This time it was unanimous for Mr. Williams. He was in the audience and was called forward. He thanked the board. He will be sworn in on June 9th.
Board Comments: Director Bocanegra thanked the candidates again and reminded everyone graduation is coming up. Director Gronwoldt also thanked all the candidates. Looking forward to the seven graduations that are coming up. Director Perkins met with the student advisory committee and felt it helped him make decisions. They asked for graduation cords for students. Director Wilson thanked the commenters and the applicants for the school board. He attended the Cascadia Tech Gala and was pleased that they raised over a half million dollars. He commented that the state auditors looked at the supplemental contracts. He thought the community would accept the results. They haven’t. So the board needs to look at what happened and deal with it. There should be a 3rd party legal firm to look at it.