Superintendent Report: She has been doing a lot of listening sessions with students, staff, community. They are looking at staffing for upcoming year based on the projected population.

They are staying the course despite federal executive orders impacting schools. They will stay true to their mission statement.

Spring break is almost here. Students are very energetic at this time of year. The superintendent is encouraging staff to rest up over the break so they are ready for the last 2 and half months.

Budget Presentation: They just got another clean audit from the state auditors.

The budget is always determined by student population which has gone up, but most of it is in Running Start program or Cascadia. So extra money for more students is a pass through that goes to those institutions. There has also been an increase in special ed but that takes more money. They need more aids. They put a special contract out for 1.5 million. They got a little extra from state but will be going over budget as there is a 10-million-dollar deficit.

To project for 2025-26, worse case scenario is no money from the state puts them into a 5-million-dollar deficit. However, if they get more money, the future is brighter. Staff attrition will help. They are also looking at a new way to plan the budget: zero based budget which means everyone starts with zero money and then builds a case for more money. The idea being that everyone will take a careful look at what they are doing and not just carry over and ask for more.

Special Ed is really worrisome and also the possible loss of federal funding.

Forecast is that student population will continue to drop over the next 2 years due to lack of babies being born during Covid. Then it looks like the population will increase. Director Perkins asked about federal funding which one is the biggest—Title I which is 6 million dollars.

Director Bocanegra liked the zero-based budget plan.

Teaching Learning and Equity It was pointed out that the mariachi band that performed was totally student led with advisory help from the band instructors at Mountain View.

Multitiered Support System is the district’s new way of analyzing student learning. They were audited by GVC. GVC visited every elementary classroom. They were assessing whether teachers are “solidifying the full intent of the curriculum”. They have made a lot of progress. Fifteen percent in reading and 7.8 percent increase in math.

They are trying to implement anti bias education. They are training everyone to

Interrupt biased language
Question the reason for that language
Educate
Echo positive language.

They are working on restorative practices. They want every student to feel valued. They are reaching out to families also.

Good News Report seemed to reflect the above. Schools are doing a lot of events that include families.

Board Comments: Director Wilson enjoyed the family event he went to. He also visited Riverview Elementary and was pleased to see how well behaved the students were.

Director Perkins gave a legislative update. There are two bills that just had hearings. One would raise the materials and operating cost budget. The other one was to increase funding for special ed.

Superintendent Moloney said they will be cautious about applying for federal grants if there are stipulations that go against district values.

Directors Bocanegra, Wilson and Perkins attended the Region 6 conference.

Director Gronwoldt attended a student cook off.

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