Created by Kathy White
Kennewick School Board Retreat
January 7, 2012
Section 1: What transpired
Section 2: What was not included
Section 1
The meeting was scheduled to begin at 8 AM. Present were Dawn Adams, Heather Kinzley, Ron Mabry, Brian Books, Dave Bond (Superintendent), and Ron Williamson (Assistant Superintendent, Secondary Education). Ben Messinger was not present at 8:15. Dave Bond attempted to contact Ben to no avail. Ron Williamson found a contact number in the Messinger’s PowerSchool account. Ben was held up by a medical emergency in the family and urged the group to begin without him.
At 8:25, President Dawn Adams opened the meeting and led in the Pledge of Allegiance. There are ten items on the Agenda. Two of the items, “Sports Recognition” and “Graduation Attire” were chosen to taken first as they were least complex and Ben could easily be briefed when he arrived.
Dave Bond began with a discussion of the purpose of the retreat. There are two retreats, January and June. The January retreat was to (1) report on the progress of the Strategic Plan which is set in June, (2) re-evaluate the Superintendent and Cabinet and (3) discuss any new topics or requests that come from board members or staff. Dawn concurred with Dave’s description without adding any new information.
Sports Recognition: All athletes that participate in regional or state competitions are honored at a school board meeting. It was noted that non-athletic competitions should also be honored. Students show the same commitment of time and effort for these pursuits. This would be music, academic, DECCA, Mock Trial and others. Athletic participants adhere to a universal calendar which makes the recognition easy to schedule. Dave asked Ron to work with Principals to facilitate notification of when non-athletic activities occur. Recognition will probably be scattered throughout the year.
Graduation Attire: In 2010, Kennewick High began wearing academic robes at graduation. The faculty was included. The discussion was whether all three high schools should do this and if faculty should be included. The consensus was that all participants on the stage should wear robes but the faculty should not be included.
Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs): After the recent incident in Richland High wherein a life was saved with an AED, there is a concern about AEDs in Kennewick SD. There are three at Kennewick High, one at Kamiakin, two at Southridge and one at Lampson Stadium. There is also a list of all people trained to use the device at each location. On January 25th, Molly Lutz, the KSD Safety Specialist, will report to the board on several safety issues in the district and she will answer board questions about AEDs. The board wanted to know what the common AED practice in other districts is. Dave reported that in the past, our insurance carrier was reluctant to encourage AEDs because of liability issues. A board member responded that businesses have AEDs and liability issues are handled. Dawn stated that middle schools should also have AEDs. Ben stated that besides the number of AEDs, response time should be studied. Ron Mabry suggested that each building have at least one AED. The cost of an AED is $1200 to $1500. Locating sponsors was suggested as a way of handling the cost. Dawn stressed the importance of training. Ron Mabry replied that this requirement is similar to that for the use of fire extinguishers.
School Schedules: There is a request from middle school principals to consider a late start instead of early release on in-service/planning days. Early release has been a discipline issue at middle schools. There was an incident at one middle school recently with students returning at three for athletic practice with evidence of alcohol consumption. If this was a building decision, there would be no problem. Because of transportation, schedules need to be a system wide pattern. This was brought up in 2008 but the board then showed no interest in looking into this. Dave asked if this should be studied.
Heather stated, “Don’t you have other things to study?” Also saying that, “I’m not a fan of change. We can predict the outcome.” Dawn also asked “What is best for study?” Ron Mabry suggested that any adjustments be made in stages. “Do not assume all parents are against this. Don’t use only our own experiences.”
Dave and Ron Williamson will consult with principals and if there is interest in change, the teachers (bargaining unit) will be brought into the discussion. There is an assumption that elementary principals will not be in favor of this.
Third Grade Reading Awards: For fifteen years, schools who reached the 3rd grade reading goal received a plaque. Now the score on the MAP test has been raised. Administration is suggesting that there be two plaques, one for the old score and one for the new score. After at least five schools reach the new score, the old plaques would be phased out. (Heather made sarcastic comments about the pictures in the packet. Dave explained that he used his phone.) Dawn wants to keep the lower awards indefinitely. Ben said that progress should be recognized. Dave stated that it was important to recognize all schools as all work hard. The consensus is that there will be two versions of the award plaque – one for the old score and a new one for the higher score.
Policy Updates: Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) offers a service to go through our policies and find discrepancies. WSSDA also offers a service of policy updates to which we (KSD) subscribe. Dawn stated that “It is our job to do this and there is a tight budget.” Heather agreed and thought an attorney could do this. Ben and Brian added that they might not be comfortable with an outsider doing this. The consensus was that we do not need this.
New Board Member Needs: Dawn asked the new board members what they needed. (Dawn and Heather were giggling through this discussion) Ron Mabry asked for several things. (1) A list of issues in the state legislature, (2) What is the dress code at meetings (3) A list of all schools and phone numbers, (4) contact information for fellow school board members – notice lack of Ben’s phone number at the beginning of this meeting. Ben and Brian did not add any further requests.
Dave alerted all that there will be an item on the January 11th Agenda about Board meeting compensation. KSD budgets for $50 per meeting for each director as well as attendance at conferences, national, state and local. For at least ten years, KSD Board members have not used this for regular school board meetings. It is expected this board will do the same. Brian will be attending the Legislative Day in Olympia. Those expenses will be reimbursed.
Brian was approached with a situation of concern by a constituent – what to do? There is a policy. The board member should inform the constituent of the protocol. First: a one to one meeting with the teacher or coach. If that is unsatisfactory, meet with the principle or athletic director. If still not satisfied, meet with the principal, next an assistant superintendent (Greg Francher, primary grades or Ron Williamson, secondary grades), then Superintendent and lastly the School Board.
Ben interjected that if the board didn’t use the reimbursement for meeting, there was enough money to buy AEDs.
Strategic Plan: (Heather, for the second time, was texting, at length, not paying attention to Dave’s presentation.) Dave Bond went through the thirteen “North Star” goals of the district. There is progress is being made on all goals except one. The plan to reach a 5% unreserved fund is in jeopardy because of the state financial crisis. The fund now stands at 4% and it was planned to add .2% this year. However, we are using this fund to make up the shortfall in state funds and our funds are being diminished without additions, so the goal will not be met.
This discussion was the longest of the morning. Progress on each goal was presented. The board request and comments were interspersed. Dawn wants a copy of the surveys about student safety and parent satisfaction with KDS at the graduation of their student. Most progress is the training, professional development of teachers, para-educators, and other staff. The dangers of working in a Life Skills classroom were documented by Ron Mabry whose wife was injured while volunteering in a Resource Room. Safety equipment is supplied and injuries are investigated. Letters of reprimand are sent to employees who are injured and do not use the supplied protection equipment. Ben asked about the recourse for dealing with a violent student. The protocol calls for isolation to a one on one education process. However, according to the law, the least restrictive environment is to be used with all students which limits the district’s options.
A discussion about the needs of the district and compensation helped the new board members understand the complexity of the education industry. Ron Mabry thought the teachers should learn Spanish. Dave shared that conversational Spanish classes are offered but truly bi-lingual translators are necessary for consultation with parents who do not speak English. Ron also asked about enhanced compensation for bi-lingual employees. Dave answered that salaries were according to the labor agreements. One thing the district can do is give a stipend for extra training. Brian asked about the training for para-educators. The training is standard but it is obvious that a para-ed with more experience is more effective in instruction. Brian also asked about the Reading Specialists. The answer was the same. Experienced employees mentor newer ones and all endeavor to provide the best instruction possible.
Standards Based Grading: At 10:30, the above presentation was interrupted for two principals, Kevin Pearce of Park Middle School (PMS) and Alyssa St.Hillaire of Highland Middle School (HMS) to give the board information about “Standards Based Grading (SBG).” Both schools use the system and presented a comparison to ‘traditional grading’ and explained how SBG is implemented in their school as well as some problems encountered. Instead of all activities being put into a blender (an example of a smoothie was used), credit of 1, 2, 3 or 4 is given for the actual mastery of an accepted standard. Students are allowed to retake tests until mastery is achieved. Alyssa spoke of a problem and HMS when it was assumed that homework didn’t count and a student could take a test as much as s/he wanted.
This was solved by giving two grades – one for work habits and one for academics. Work habits are graded as follows on these attributes: Prepared to learn, Follows expectations, Engaged in learning, and Completes work.
4 = advanced, 3 = frequent, 2 = seldom, 1 = never
For academics, the numbers are as follows: 4 = Exceeds standard, 3 = At standard, 2 = Approaching standard, and 1 = Below standard. SBG grades only the standard. Teachers and students understand what it means to meet the standard which is established by the leaders in the field and made formal by the state. Kevin said, “Changing behaviors of teachers and students will improve learning.” Both Alyssa and Kevin affirmed that this is difficult for teachers to implement and parents to understand.
Alyssa shared a copy of a SBG report card for a student. It showed the standard and the grade earned. Ben noted that there was a lot more information which was broken down – study habits and content mastery are separate.
The board went into Executive Session at 11:45. The last agenda item was the evaluation of the Superintendent and the Cabinet.
Section 2
This was the first retreat of the board with three new members. What wasn’t there? How about a ‘welcome’ to new members? How about a discussion of personal commitment to education? Did the president call each new member and invite them to submit agenda items? Was the president involved in orientation? Was there an orientation? Ben and Brian were able to participate in the WSSDA New Board Member Boot Camp. When will they share their experience? Ron Mabry brought up several concerns. He was tentative, but his questions were basic and good. Being new, often a person does not have enough knowledge to ask questions.
I have to explain my position. I just finished one year of the leadership training with a cadre of directors from six different school districts. This is a yearly program of the Washington State School Directors’ Association. I am keenly aware of the best practices for both the school board as a whole and the individual board member. I saw no evidence of team building. The individual member contributes to the decisions of the board but does not individually set policy. It is important that each board member respects the other members of the board. A healthy board represents a variety of viewpoints and comes to conclusions by a thorough discussion of these viewpoints. This was the opportunity to establish a rapport so the discussions can be honest, respectful and within the legal parameters of elected officials performing their duties. This needs to be done in public when all the board members are involved.
It is helpful for the experienced board members to mentor the new ones. A one on one conversation can happen any time. But a discussion between three or more members needs to be either strictly social or considered a meeting. Team building adds to the ease of making any decision but particularly controversial, difficult decisions. I saw no evidence of attempts to establish a climate for communication and sharing ideas. Board members are busy people with demanding careers. Still, they need to be professional in fulfilling their school board duties.
The school system runs on a different calendar than the rest of the world. The ‘new year’ for schools is in August. The new board member assumes office in December, joining a moving train, so to speak. A discussion of how the board arrived at current priorities would have been a good orientation for new members. It was assumed everyone knew the goals of the district. What is the calendar for changes? Ben and Dave are going to the Legislation Day in Olympia. What are the main concerns of KSD? What are the priority items Ben should bring up with our legislators? There was no discussion of how to use this opportunity to influence legislation coming out of Olympia.
The school board is the oldest and most democratic of all public institutions. Anyone who steps up to serve is to be commended. But the education industry is different than other areas of business or service. Education is also changing because of changing demographics, state and federal laws, and research finds. School board members need continuing education just as an attorney, physician, engineer, and so on also do. There was no mention of “I read this book (article, newspaper, etc.).” A healthy board has a continuing education plan for itself.
I’ll be attending Kennewick School Board meetings and hope to see some of these omissions filled in – for the sake of the students!
