Kennewick School Board Meeting August 17, 2011 5:30 PM
Board members present: Dawn Adams, Heather Kintzley, Lynn Fielding, Kathy White.
Business:
- Interim school board member Brian Brooks was sworn in to serve until November
- Student school board representative Maricarmen Garcia was sworn in to serve this school year
- Kathy White was elected to serve as KSB legislative representative
- I addressed concerns over the interim appointment of a school board candidate. See: http://ksdcitizens.org/2011/08/17/ksd-school-board-triumvirate-maintains-status-quo/
- A community member expressed concern about amplifier systems used in classrooms. Superintendent Dave Bond and Kathy White replied assuring that any parent concerns will be remediated as needed.
- A staff member stated the need for staff oversight of non-curricular clubs like Key Club.
- Superintendent Bond listed a number of changes in building administration as personnel left the district and employees filled open positions.
- Chuck Freeman representing the Kennewick Irrigation District spoke about the KID’s Cost of Service Study and impact on rates. KSD will see a rate increase for KID water.
- Ron Williamson presented information about graduation requirement waivers for Computer Competency and Physical Education classes. See details below.
- Student Clubs, Policy No. 3560 was considered after a second reading. After much discussion and Fielding’s statement that KSD “does not have to treat people nicely, just treat them the same”, the board voted to remove language permitting non-curricular clubs the same privileges as curricular clubs. See Jacques Von Lunen’s article in the Tri-City Herald
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/08/18/1607138/student-clubs-in-kennewick-face.html
- Policies for Shared Decision Making (1270), Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying and Cyber Bullying (3207), and Affirmative Action (5011) were passed unanimously.
- Bond presented the North Star Goals Strategic Plan Implementation Schedule. The board unanimously approved funding these goals for the 2011/12 school year. See details below.
Graduation Requirement Waivers
Discussion centered on the PE waiver. Few students have been successful waiving the PE requirement utilizing a test with three components. Board member White favors promoting lifetime fitness. Bond will research athletic waivers in other school districts and expressed his recommendation to continue this system another year or two with improvements made as needed. A revision to make this waiver more flexible will be developed by mid-October.
Strategic Plan Implementation Schedule
KSD has created a five year plan for implementing the North Star Goals with funding to be approved yearly. Bond noted that Governor Gregoire has notified state agencies to prepare for more budget cuts if state revenues do not improve.
For the 2011/12 school year $386,000 has been approved to be divided among eight of the eleven goals. Implementing the 8th Grade Algebra requirement will cost $48,000, improving the graduation rate will cost $16,000, Kindergarten Readiness will cost $8500, the Third Grade Reading Goal will receive $5000, Student Safety Surveys will cost $2000 and a survey of graduation preparedness will cost $1000.
Adult safety concerns were considered with emphasis on injuries in Life Skills classes. $5000 will be spent to improve safety training.
To bring the KSD unreserved, undesignated reserve account up to 5% of the district budget, $300,000 will be added to the account during June of each school year for the next five years, adding $1.5 million in total.
Browse the KSD’s Implementation Schedule below or download the PDF.
