ML school board receives curriculum updates

MEDICAL LAKE — The school board passed a variety of updates to district policies and received a number of updates from administrators at its regular Tuesday, Nov. 26, meeting.

For one board member, it was the last. Outgoing board member Felicia Jensen, who lost her seat on the board in last month’s election, said farewell.

“This community is so great,” Jensen said with emotion, commending incoming board member Laura Parsons who won the seat in a tight race. “It makes me very happy, though, that someone like Laura is the one who’s coming on board.”

Jensen was effusive about the dedication and “hours and hours of work” district employees across the board put into their jobs to ensure student success.

“Your work is amazing,” she said.

Remaining members of the board and senior district administration praised Jensen for her tenure.

“I just really appreciate her enthusiasm, her integrity in all her ideas,” President Rod Von Lehe said. “She’s melded real well with this board and this community. It’s hard to see her go.”

The board moved on to business after hearing from representatives of Dollars for Scholars and the Washington Education Association.

They passed administrative policy modifications generally related to homeless students and those of military families.

Among other details, the policies provide for conditional acceptance of enrollment applications for students with parents in the military and point of contact and enrollment issues for homeless students. Choice student transfer policies and records issues were also modified and passed on either first or second readings.

The board also approved the district’s annual performance report for the 2018-2019 school year. The “report card” will be posted on school websites, according to Superintendent Tim Ames.

The reports provide detailed information about the district’s goals, budget and other information, and a variety of data related to each school’s student body.

Ames and Assistant Superintendent Kim Headrick also provided reports on current curriculum development, workforce development and legislative goals.

Career connected learning, a new gubernatorial emphasis that is launching soon, includes four recommendations intended to provide students with a career development pathway, whether technical-professional or in the trades.

While some of that work is being done in conjunction with Northeast Washington Education Service District 101, Medical Lake had already been developing a catalog that outlines career pathway coursework for students, such as engineering, science, mechanics and others.

“It provides for our students an understanding of what courses that follow (those career pathways) that they can take,” Headrick said.

The district has also been working on a “seamless” transition of it’s “High School and Beyond Plan” between middle and high school that includes early career explorations as students move toward graduation.

However, the district, Ames said, will also be looking at whether the offered will provide a living wage for students beyond high school. And due to the district’s size, it may limit career pathway courses.

Ames also shared a list of priorities he and other state school district superintendents will be focusing on during this year’s legislative session. The first is a no-cost fix to the State Employee Benefit Board health benefit mandate that came from the Legislature last year.

SEBB sign-ups by district employees wrapped up last month, but costs and eligibility of some staff remains an issue that Ames would like clarified.

Funding special education, which continues to be mandated, but underfunded by the Legislature is also a priority.

“They’ve admitted they’ve underfunded that,” Ames said of the Legislature.

The other legislative priority is modifying the so-called “prototypical” school model — or basic education — to include funding for school nurses, counselor and psychologists.

Ames said he would also be looking closely at any levy fix the Legislature consider during this year’s short legislative session, an ongoing battle that has had significant impacts to rural schools versus richer urban school districts with higher property values.

In other business the board approved the district’s annual financial statement.

Board member Leo Spilker was absent.

Lee Hughes can be reached at lee@cheneyfreepress.com.