January-13-2020-Regular-Board-Meeting-Segment-1
[00:00:00] Welcome. We're going to open this meeting, this school, Lord, this evening. It's wonderful to have students here with us tonight and we are going to call our role and then we'll get to you guys shortly.
Chelsea King present. Megan Olatoye present 50 Thompson, Galen. Hi. Excellent. Um, this evening, our agenda is put forth, but it is possible that we may move and shift a few different things. Our speakers from Clackamas CSD, um, are also speaking before the Oregon city school board this evening. And so they will do that first and then get here.
So, um, just have some patients with us if things don't go. Um, exactly. According to the agenda, we will get everything covered this evening and we will begin with our district communications [00:01:00] and, uh, from arts and technology high school. Caitlin Finn.
Hello. I'm Caitlin Finn. I'm glad to be here tonight. That's the only one still here. I hope everyone had a nice winter break and I and 2020 has been a good team so far. Before I want to rake, we had our annual holiday luncheon for the school community. The staff give away, give every blank, every student a blanket as a gift to keep them warm through the winter months and remind students that the staff cared about them.
We had our first of our four family dinners this year. We're family ate dinner and the Kiva together to build a community and support one another. Art tech has a loony event where 40 plus people enjoyed pizza and cake. Also sharing stories of their time. Our tech high school, we are in the planning stages of our first ever prom that will be held [00:02:00] January 24th at the youth music project and with West Linn and our prom committee is for the possibility.
Didn't start getting ready to begin our chills snowboard program this Wednesday. The program focuses on Lord sport's becoming the vehicle for empowerment. The shield program consists of fixture and for learning activities, reflection and discussion paired with board sports lessons. Our tech is hosting another blood drive this Thursday, the 16th and the Kiva.
And I have flyers to leave for you if you're interested. Um, our community of students, teachers and parents. And the community members proves to be very committed to group of donors, which we are very proud of. Assuming the weather cooperates. We have a group of students and the staff heading to fig narrows Phoenix program, Thursday for two nights.
One Phoenix program graduates said the Phoenix program is a great opportunity for people to be heard, let go of the negativity of the past, set new goals for the future, and learn to believe in yourself on behalf of the students and the staff [00:03:00] at art tech. I'd like to thank the board for all they do for us, for our schools.
Thank you, Kaitlin. And next we have from West Linn high school. Avery falls.
Good evening you guys. Um, my name is Avery falls and I appreciate the opportunity to share again this month. What's happening at West Linn high school. So December at West Linn was incredibly festive. It was a crazy, crazy month and each week was filled with so much fun to kick off the month we held our annual mr ms.
Mix competition. Seniors participated in a week full of dressing up school spirit, collecting money and preparing for a fun full pageant on Friday the 13th. Most importantly, the activities fundraising this year benefited West Linn high school sources and sources of strength program, which educates students and staff.
Specifically on mental health issues, suicide prevention, and being an active community [00:04:00] member. We are proud to report that our seniors were able to fundraise a total of $1,430 for sources of strength, and we're so proud of everything that happened that week. The two weeks before winter break, our leadership ASB class put on our annual 10 days of joy each day.
We revealed either a gift, the student body, we're able. To give, um, like a service drive, blankets or books, a gift they were receiving, like live music and cookies in the library, or an opportunity for them to express gratitude to others like grading a card. We found that it was not only a scientifically proven way to generate joy in our students and staff, but an opportunity for them to become more aware and supportive of other members of their land, family, and greater community.
Next week is semester one finals. Not going to lie. I'm a little bit stressed. Um, and to celebrate everyone's hard work, each student will receive a personalized gift bag complete with a Dixon Ticonderoga. Number two, pencil candy, where it's an encouragement and a commemorative century of plant pride lanyard.
We're, [00:05:00] we're doing our best over here to make everyone feel, um, believe stress as possible. We know it's going to be a crazy, but I'm really good week. Next Saturday night, students will dance in that away. After the stressful final week between the hours of eight and 11 at our winter ball at the melody barroom in Portland, all grades are welcomed and we're looking forward to a really magical night.
So as for sports, girls and boys basketball have both kicked off their seasons as well as wrestling, swim, and unified basketball. Our skiers and snowboarders have started training and our Debs are hurting for their competition pieces as well as our cheerleaders continuing to prepare for their national competition in Florida.
Later next month. Okay. As usual, performing arts at West Linn, kind of crazy. So, um, band, choir and orchestra all had phenomenal winter concerts. Um, we're all super proud of them. This Friday, several Western students will be performing an all state choir and accomplishment. We're all extremely proud of.
Additionally, our theater for youth class, we'll be performing an entirely student produced production of [00:06:00] Robin hood. There. Touring it to three of our primary schools this week, which is super exciting. And then we'll perform it Thursday through Saturday at 7:00 PM and a 2:00 PM show on Saturday and a Blackbox studio theater here at West high school.
So as always, we hope to see you there. I will be there for sure. It looks like a super amazing show, or thespians are also preparing for the regional competition, and we'll be hosting an actor's showcase on Friday the 24th performing pieces. They have prepared to what? Represent West Linn at regionals. Our music inquire programs will be holding their annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser on January 30th at which guests will be served delicious meal while they listen to performances by our band choir and orchestra students.
Looking forward to February, our seniors will have the opportunity to apply to be a part of our very special century Mayport. I'm taking place on May 1st and to be a team and our highly anticipated amazing race competition competing to raise money for charities of their choice. So that's all the events that we have.
But before I close, I wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one [00:07:00] of you, um, for your service towards the Western Wilsonville school district, attending school here, having a parent that's a teacher in the district. Dr Ludwig was my principal when I was in kindergarten at sunset primary. So, um, it's just shown me how much you all continue to listen, advocate, and support our community.
Students and families such as my own ed. It means the world to me. Thank you so much for all that you do. So as a little token of gratitude, there's like a really literary extra card for all of you from leadership is via a slim, um, a little pizazz to the night. Um, but yeah, thank you for your time and I will see you all next month.
Thank you Avery, and thank you for the glittery card. We'll we'll read it later. And, uh, next we have Wilsonville high school and Lindsey Hartford.
Good evening school board and happy new year. I'm glad to be back to start off 2020 strong as [00:08:00] they're going to be. Lots of exciting things happening at Wilsonville. December was full of holiday cheer and fantastic musical events. Thank you to those of you who came out to enjoy the first annual winter music concert.
Since there's a lovely couple of evenings and we're always happy to see you around our school. Many students and teachers were granted winter wishes that puts smiles on faces. For example, a student dedicated their wish to giving a brand new office chair to our choir teacher at our school, which was given at the assembly, and also lots of assembly entertainment was provided as a result of the winter wishes.
Moving into January last week was the final deadline for senior system that their spring Fest applications, which means one of our favorite Wilsonville traditions of showcasing student talent is coming up very quickly. Also coming up soon is finals week. This means freshmen will get their first taste of finals, so they will get a chance to taste some hot chocolate first at the cocoa and cram study session after school [00:09:00] this Wednesday.
This is a chance for freshmen to prepare for finals with other older student leaders present to help with work and serve them some hot chocolate and some other tasty snacks. The girls and boys basketball teams are off to a great start this season, and the boys just returned from a team bonding trip in California where they went to a, no, there's a double header at home this Friday.
The girls take the core at five 30 and the boys at seven 15 the unified basketball team is also excited to start up again and the swim meet has a, or the swim team has a meet on Thursday and the ski team has a race on Saturday at Meadows. I'll say for band inquires this weekend, and students will be participating Friday through Sunday, right after the end of the semester.
The theater program will be performing night on Broadway on January 30th and 31st at seven o'clock in our auditorium, and as always, we'd love for you all to come out to Wilsonville as a first semester comes to a close. We are looking to [00:10:00] start the second semester on a high note, so we have winter formal on February 1st.
This is a fun social event for all students to participate in and it's highly anticipated amongst students, teachers and students have been working very hard recently as it is crunch time at Wilsonville, and we want to take a moment to thank you so much to everyone on this, to say thank you so much to everyone on the school board for your volunteer time.
It's truly appreciated by Wilsonville high school and also thank you so much for your time this evening and I look forward to seeing you all next month.
Thank you, Lindsey. And um, six 15, and we're moving onto the recognitions. Dr Ludwig. Well, every month at a school board meeting, we recognize members of the community or groups or individuals who contribute to the mission of the district and serve the community. And this month, you [00:11:00] all are the recipients of the recognition because it's a service that you give.
It's not a paid position, and yet you've made time beyond your full time jobs. In addition to your own families, um, to serve in a multitude of ways. To make sure that, um, the district is functioning in a way that is reflective of the mission and the goals, um, to set goals for us to keep moving forward.
You visit schools and you attend activities and you cheer loudly from the sidelines. And you're tremendous supporters of every single student and family in the district, and, um, really should be school board month every month. I think every time you have one of these meetings to open with that appreciation for what you do.
So you have, you know, these tokens lining the shelves some little. Tributes from each school. And in addition to that, I often think one of the best gifts is to hear from our students and when they [00:12:00] can share their talents with us. Um, it's so heartwarming and it just has us remember why we do this work.
And so we have this talent in our district, this band that performs out in the community, they perform at the youth music project. Um, so many incredibly talented students. I've gotten to. Watch them over the years and recently listened to them sing and perform. And at the last concert, I thought, this is the group that needs to come and give their gift of music to our board.
So we have the art tech. High school rock band led by the most fabulous band and music teacher, mr Batten Whitehead in the back, who is
not only a thoughtful, um, and talented educator, but also a musician and, um, believes in kids. And kids often find their connection to school through, uh, [00:13:00] classes that they take with him. So they have prepared two songs for you as a gift to you, the board. And Matt, I think you'll introduce each of the titles of the songs.
And then when we're done with the two pieces, we'd like each of you students to introduce yourself to the board, your name, and maybe your great, if you'd like, two or one, one thing about what you're enjoying at school so that we can get to know you. And then before you leave. We do have a gift for each of you as a thank you for setting up and being here tonight.
Um, something edible that's always good. Right. All right, so Matt, what songs have, has the rock band prepared as a gift to our board this evening? I'll have Josh
Mr blue. Scott California. Yeah. What do you mean?
[00:17:00] [00:16:00] [00:15:00] [00:14:00] All right. Feel free to sing along, but
try
[00:25:00] [00:24:00] [00:23:00] [00:22:00] [00:21:00] [00:20:00] [00:19:00] [00:18:00] Yes, sir.
And I've been in the band for two quarters now, and I've had such an amazing experience. It's been so great and it's built my confidence so much and I feel just so welcomed. Objection. All right, well, I'm getting these and, um, I've been in this band or how long. Two years, two full years. I, uh, I didn't start singing as, explain this, I don't know.
Alright. Um, my name is Joshua. This is my second year, [00:26:00] uh, being a singer, um, school. Uh. And, um, yeah, it's been uphill under sentence. That's the best way. No.
Oh,
mean, this is my first year.
My name's Greg Palmer. I started this band the beginning of last year, and I've been in it ever since. Um, Mr. Whitehead is maybe a better guitar player than I ever thought I would be. And I'm wondering if my place on time never knew if I'd be able to play it. So that's just been a great experience and I loved everyone that I played with.
I just [00:27:00] can't do it for as long as I can, other than
Hi, I'm Molly scour. I been in the band for since the beginning of the year. Mr  said when we need a meeting that he just needed a drum player and like, I don't want to try that out. Let's do that. So.
Um, I'm recording slaughter and this is my first quarter in the band, and it's been an amazing experience. So, yeah. Really
a square
yeah.
[00:28:00] Well, yeah.
Please say thank you on behalf of our board for, uh, taking time out of your evening and coming and sharing your music with us. Uh, this has got to be a highlight so far, so thank you. Before you leave, can you tell us when is your next concert?
Friday, the 24th okay. Right. So if you like what you heard, you get a whole evening of that and it's, yeah, it's so great. And the songs are amazing and the talent, and I'm just always amazed at how you guys just pick this up often in a year or two, and especially that drummer when I heard that story. But you've got all that rhythm
Pull the [00:29:00] band together. So you guys just are amazing. Thank you for this gift of music to our board and to the rest of us. So we've benefited from that and we'll see you on the 24th so thank you. And we've got, um,
parting gifts for each of you. Hopefully you like Bundt cakes. So there's one for each of you, a little treat. And thank you again.
And we will continue on. They're going to break, break apart their set, but we will proceed on with our board reports. Oh E four. We do the board reports. Um, and while they're doing their equipment, um, I'm going to read the school board recognition month. Proclamation. Yeah. Whereas school boards create a vision for what students should know and be able to do.
Whereas school boards establish clear standards for student performance. Whereas school boards ensure [00:30:00] that student assessments are tied to establish standards. Whereas school boards are accountable to the community for operating schools that support student achievement. Whereas school boards align school district resources to ensure that students meet standards.
Whereas school boards create a climate that supports the philosophy that all children can learn at high levels. Whereas school boards build collaborative relationships based on trust, teamwork, and shared accountability. And whereas school boards are committed to continuous education and training on issues related to student achievement.
Now, therefore, we hear by declare our appreciation to the members of the West Linn, Wilsonville school district school board and proclaim the month of January to be school board recognition month. We urge all citizens to join us in recognizing the dedication and hard work of local school board members in preparing today's students.
For tomorrow's [00:31:00] world. So please help me recognize and appreciate our school board
and now you may move on in the agenda. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for letting us serve in this role. It's as rewarding for us, more rewarding for us. I think, um, Chelsea and feel free because we have a dense, um, agenda this evening too. If you want to be very brief in your board report this month, you've had permission to do so.
Thank you for that permission and thank you so much for the music and for all the gifts and the recognition, and it is an honor to serve in this capacity. And um, yeah, I will definitely keep a brief. A couple of highlights for me included music and art. I was able to go to the Portland art museum [00:32:00] with wood middle school and see the Hank Willis Thomas exhibit, which was really powerful.
And I attended the winter concert at Wilsonville high school. And as always, the band director and choir director always appreciative to the board and to the administration, to our district for supporting, um, music and arts and, um, for my fellow board members, I did take your comments and compiled them and met with dr Ludwig for the first iteration of the superintendent evaluation.
So that all happened.
All right. Um, I'll come back to you. Gender Dylan went to like to share next. I know Mr. Whitehead just stepped out, but I wanted to thank him and the art and tech high school band for playing nights, teaching our youth to appreciate classic rock and electrolyte orchestra. As much appreciated. Um, so very briefly, some highlights from since the last time we met.
Um. Uh, so ate the Creek band [00:33:00] concert, uh, the Cinderella production at Western high school. And what stood out to me stood out about that was, um, their facility is currently too small to fit everyone in it for now. And, uh, the band plays in another room. So you hear them, you can't see them, and you hear it and you imagine it's a hundred piece orchestra.
And then intermission, they brought the band and I think there was. Christy, like 16, 17 people in this entire band is producing this explosion of sound. So that was pretty amazing. Um, local boy Scouts invited me to come speak at their, um, uh, sixth and seventh grade troop about the importance of, uh, being involved in your community.
So I got a chance to do that. And also, um, one of my Clements and serving on the board is to stay in touch with our elected leaders. So since we last met, I've had a chance to meet with representative neuron Prue SAC and Senator Wagner to discuss issues before our district. So, um, and I just would like to say, I think all three of them are doing an excellent job.
Um, first of all, thank you for all of this. And just as a new board member, I don't feel like I've done enough to be thanked yet, but I [00:34:00] want to express my thanks just to everybody else and how easy they've made this transition to my fellow board members who have been so helpful and patient and gracious and take my calls and explain things to me and to all of the, um.
Oh, the district office stuff as well. I feel like I'm the one that should be thanking you. So I just want to say that. Um, so I started off the month of December by attending the Christmas tree lighting, uh, in Wilsonville, which I haven't been to before, but had the opportunity to hear several of our choir's.
I believe I heard Beckman. I heard wood middle school, Wilsonville high school Lowery might've been there too. I'm not exactly sure. So, um, that was a fun event to drag my oldest daughter to. And, um, then I attended some other winter concerts, Meridian Creek, Beckman Creek, uh, Stafford, uh, Wilsonville high school.
Um, one of the highlights of the month was attending, um, the arts and technology high school holiday luncheon on the 18th. And, um, [00:35:00] I think was there a student modeling one of the blankets that you gave away? Yeah, darn it. I was going to, he left right before I had an opportunity. So, um. Anyway, it was such a special event.
And, um, just to see this family feel, take a school and give it this family feel of, um, kids eating at tables together and their parents being our guardians being invited as well. And then just getting this gift of warmth and, um, principals wrestler just talked about, you know, you've got something, a piece of school to take with you so you don't feel like you're alone.
It was just, it was a great event and I will be back every year. Um, I attended the Stafford PTSA meeting. Uh, my hope is to get to the PTA, PTSA, PTO, whatever. All those meetings are called at the different schools just to visit each school this year, just to get to know, um, the parents that are hard at work behind the scenes that each one of our schools enriching the community [00:36:00] there and to thank them for their service.
Um, and last Wednesday night, I attended the truth about vaping. Uh, it was a talk given at Lakeridge high school by Michael de Leon, and just a couple of great things that just little nuggets that I want to share that I took from that. Um, first of all, he said that 90% of drug and alcohol abusers started using in their teens and, uh, started using nicotine marijuana or alcohol in their teens.
And what they know is that if they can push the use of those three drugs out until 21 or older, that that. Very much decreases the likelihood that someone will abuse those products. Um, and another one, and I loved this one, is that teens whose families eat together at least five times a week, um, are less likely to use drugs.
So just an encouragement, even if it's maybe having family or dinner together in the car as you drive to the next event. He didn't say where the family meal had to occur. So, [00:37:00] um, that's my encouragement to our families right.
Yeah, thanks for, um. Allowing me to be late. I read the white fragility book that dr Ludwig had given us, and, um, had conversations with dr Ludwig about, um, disrupting systems of racism, um, and, and spoke with one of our community members who also has some passion in that area. So, um. Primarily just reporting that I'm doing some thinking about what it is we can as a board and a district be thinking about or a community.
I really looking forward to the conversations we're going to have later in the month on that topic. Yeah. Um, I'll just highlight three things that I've done. Uh, one I've been working with dr Ludwig and, um, Chelsea as well regarding our upcoming joint meetings with the [00:38:00] city councils as well as our, um, work session this month around equity.
And, uh, the next actionable steps we with our community partners may be able to take to kind of move that mission. Forward. Um, I attended the Willamette neighborhood association meeting this week along with dr Ludwig, removed Douglas and Andrew Kihlstrom. Um, I was a member of the audience. Um, the, our administrators were invited just to answer some community questions in particular around the dollar street property.
Um, it's really early in the process. So we didn't have all the answers to all the questions, but we have a, we have a list of questions we can work towards getting answers to 'em if we weren't able to address the community concerns. And, um, it was an opportunity to also say, Hey, we're just at the beginning of this.
We're gonna work through this, and we get to come back together, um, with this community multiple times over, um, as we progress forward. Um, and then I also spoke with, um, [00:39:00] Savina Arrendondo with Wilcox ardando regarding the district audit. And I'll just mention that conversation now briefly, although I know we're going to have a more detailed conversation later.
Um, but just as board chair, he calls me, asked me if I have any knowledge of any, you know, wrongdoing or liability on the part of the district. And, and of course I can say no, I have absolutely no knowledge of that. But, um, it was just an opportunity then for me to ask him, Hey, did you happen to see anything.
That was a cause for concern. And his answer was no. But there are, as we progress going forward and our district is growing areas where we could take tighten up kind of our checks and balances. And so, um, I know he'll address that this evening, but there are just a few things. And one of the things he said as we hire new professionals, especially within our financial office, that, you know, to the extent that, um, candidates can come to us with experience.
Um, of having worked within school districts, if that would actually be beneficial because school districts are very, uh, unique [00:40:00] enterprises. And, um. That was, Oh, and then one other thing I asked, just based on our, we had just determined their long range planning committee would be our bond oversight. And so I did ask a question around, you know, bond oversight and auditing of that process.
And he confirmed, yes, we look at that. And as we gear up for the new bond, they will also meet with our, um, financial department and, and kind of reviewed the, the plans. And they. Counting towards that bond and then put in place if they have any suggestions to better strengthen, um, our bond oversight process.
So that concludes my board report and dr Ludwig.
Okay.
Because we have a dense agenda tonight. Um, I actually have two slides. And, um, so just this opening, these are some pictures [00:41:00] captured from the OA Bay conference that our district hosted this weekend, Friday and Saturday, a while based hands for the Oregon association of bilingual education. And so you can see a couple of our teachers on the right who presented.
Uh, you can see the orb president on the left, Laney Morlock who happens to be a will Amate parent, um, is opening the session. And what I'll pass down, um, just for you to peruse a few of the, the, the sessions, our district where the sponsors this year. So they were very grateful, not only for the location, it was held at Meridian Creek middle school, uh, but also staff who did a tremendous amount of work, uh, to help that conference take its lift.
I want to recognize dr Barb soy son. And ms Alisa Lee, um, two of our staff members who worked enormous amount of hours with the OIA board to make sure not only was the facility ready, but even to help think through the agenda. And we had quite a few of our staff. I'm leading some of the breakout [00:42:00] sessions, the Friday conference.
And Joe, if you could move to the next slide. I'm in the green there. Um, on Friday, um, educators around the state did some school visits to visit dual language classrooms. And Lowery was one of those sites. And you can see the picture down below. Uh, principal city tell Maya is leading a group of visitors around explaining.
Um, the dual language program in our district, and then they've visited all K through five classrooms to see the articulation of our program. And you can see some of the information that we gave out to folks. Um, there was also a session for students. You can see the top picture about 70 high school students who are primarily first generation college going students, primarily bilingual students, came, um, and Linfield college hosted that, I believe it was Linfield.
College hosted that and gave students insights into what it means to be college ready, but also the ins and outs of applying and some of the courses [00:43:00] and programs at Linfield. So they hosted it, but really it was generalizable about college and career Saturday, whether you all day sessions. Again, number of our teachers lead those.
And there are over about over 300 attendees. And in the past a while Bay has had maybe about 150, 175. So this was quite an explosion of interest. Um, and they really are becoming the premier conference in Oregon around bilingual education. So it's fantastic. What's unique is that it's also a conference for parents.
So we had about 75 bilingual. Parents who also came, um, and there are sessions for them around, um, ways to support students in school around education initiatives. And it was incredibly well attended. Um, so it's one of those unique conferences where students, parents, and teachers all come under this umbrella of supporting bilingual education and getting support themselves.
Um, as members of that. So we've offered to host it again [00:44:00] for them, if that helps. We're kind of a central location. Um, but I have a feeling they're outgrowing their space. So unless we can find a bigger school, um, you know, they may need to move to the, uh, a conference center. So we were really proud to be able to do that.
Um, I emailed all of you that we, our sip plan, our continuous improvement plan was approved. So now we're working through this large document. It's only about 80 pages, um, about how to apply for the grant. And, um, I should say not all 80 pages are the grant application process. There's resources in here as well, but we've already got a team working on that.
We've met, uh, prior to, um, winter break and anticipation of the approval. And then again, this morning, our team met for, um, about an hour and a half kind of unpacking this. So we've got plans in place for drafting and then also getting feedback back from the community. All working towards bringing this forward to you.
The board before April 15th is the deadline. This [00:45:00] Wednesday, I'm going to be at West Linn high school. So thank you, principal Newman for inviting me. Um, as you know, the last couple months we've had feedback from our students at West Linn high school around ways we can improve our communication and think about equity and access and supporting all students.
And principal Newman has, um, with students led a lot of that responsiveness and been. Having a lot of conversations with his students and parents and working with staff to better meet the needs and inquiries of our students. And this Wednesday, basic rights Oregon is coming to lead a training for all staff for the professional growth Wednesday.
So I will be there for that to maybe do a quick little welcome, but really to learn and participate as well as a learner. And then lastly, you've mentioned it. We have a board work session coming up in a couple of weeks, and we're putting that gender together and anything that we've, we've got in place, we'll email you ahead of time so that you know what that evening [00:46:00] will look like.
That's it. Thank you.