RIVERVIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 407
CARNATION, WA 98014
Minutes of Regular Board of Directors’ Meeting
January 13, 2009
District Office – Conference Room A/B
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Bawden, Board President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM, followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Mr. Bawden, Mrs. Van Noy, Mr. Pflugrath, Ms. Oviatt, Mr. Edwards
Student Representatives: Ms. Fields, Mr. Siegel
NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER RECOGNITION
Mr. Bawden welcomed the newest members of staff to become National Board Certified: Karen
Hough, Suzan Fender, Elli Materi, and Christie Isler. The Board congratulated the teachers on
their hard work and commitment to students and learning.
COMMUNICATIONS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS, AND HEARING OF PUBLIC
Mr. Bawden thanked the maintenance and transportation staff and others who put in the extra
effort during the floods. He thanked Mr. Robertson for making the hard decisions and staying on
top of everything.
Mr. Bawden mentioned the Board held a Technology Roundtable at 5:00 PM tonight that the
Board found very useful and informative.
Mrs. Van Noy noted the new King County Library in Carnation will hold an Open House on
January 31, 2009.
Mr. Pflugrath reminded the Board of Senior Project presentations on January 23rd.
Mr. Edwards enjoyed the girls’ and boys’ opening basketball games in the new gym, with both
winning in overtime. He noted a lot of alumni were at the games. He mentioned the school
board took Leah Cole, former student representative, to dinner last week.
Ms. Oviatt again mentioned the advantages of having the Constant Contact emails from the
elementary schools, especially in emergencies and hoped the secondary schools would be up
soon. She pointed out Josh Siegel and Marc Hillestad were pictured in the River Current for
DECA and FFA Toys for Tots drive. She also noted that a FAQ spot would be helpful on our
website.
-1-
COMMUNICATIONS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS, AND HEARING OF PUBLIC, Cont.
Mr. Bawden said the Board will hold a Work Study next Tuesday on the Riverview Learning
Center, and he also would be meeting with Dr. Smith on Goal 1, Objective G next week.
Mr. Siegel mentioned Courtney Fields and he attended the DECA area annual competition, along
with 30-plus students from Cedarcrest. He also announced that he was accepted at his first
choice college, Chapman University in Southern California.
Ms. Fields added that four DECA students qualified for the state competition. She noted that she
will be leaving on Friday to attend the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference in Washington,
D.C.
Mr. Robertson mentioned that Cedarcrest and Tolt were now ready to participate in Constant
Contact, along with the elementary schools.
Mr. Robertson explained the process leading up to early dismissal last Wednesday. We began
monitoring the water levels on Monday, January 5th at 8:00 PM in anticipation of flooding due to
large snow accumulation in the mountains followed by rain and warm temperatures. At 4:30
AM on Wednesday, January 7, the maintenance and transportation staff reported that the roads
were in good shape for school to begin at its regular time. I had continued to monitor the water
level of the rivers through the night and early morning and didn’t expect flooding conditions to
affect the RSD until after school bus routes would be concluded. At 8:00 AM it was reported
that the Tolt River had over flowed its banks and for the first time in memory was flooding
towards town.
After assessing the condition and meeting with the transportation department, I called for an
early dismissal with all schools and emergency notification systems alerted. Within fifteen
minutes of the decision, water began entering the TMS parking lot requiring another meeting
with the Transportation Department on whether we could get our bus drivers who were heading
to CHS to instead return to TMS and transport middle school students first. We had just enough
time. CHS did dismiss at the original early release time with bus riders remaining at CHS until
the buses arrived at approximately 11:00 AM. The elementary school students then were
transported home.
I want to express my appreciation for the flexibility and professionalism of all staff members as
we adjusted release times and transported students home safely. Considering the situation things
went very well. I especially need to thank the transportation office staff and bus drivers for their
valuable input into the early release, how to adjust routes and safely transporting students home.
I have been told that this is the first time we have ever had to reverse our routes and take middle
school students home before high school students. It wasn’t an easy change since numerous
driver and route adjustments were needed to successfully reverse the order. The transportation
staff was simply outstanding.
Agenda Adjustment
Motion 09-01: To amend the Agenda, by adding Item B, under Old Business, Calendar
Committee Recommendations for Make-up Days. (Bawden and Oviatt) Unanimous.
-2-
COMMUNICATIONS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS, AND HEARING OF PUBLIC, Cont.
Hearing of Public
Amanda Lantis spoke to her concerns about the Tolt Middle School emergency release due to
floods and the lack of information to parents on the changed release schedule. She noted she
received e-mails and phone calls on Stillwater’s early release. She asked the Board to consider a
way to contact middle school parents either by e-mail, texting, or automated phone calls. The
Board thanked Mrs. Lantis for her comments and suggestions.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion 09-02: To approve the January 13, 2009, Consent Agenda as presented. (Van Noy and
Edwards) Unanimous.
Approval of Regular School Board Meeting Minutes for December 9, 2008 and Board Work
Study Minutes for December 9, 2008
Approval of Warrants
General Fund Warrant No. 168655 through 168804 in the amount of $106,925.57, and No.
168885 through 169027 in the amount of $280,851.03; Capital Projects Fund Warrant No.
168805 through 168827 in the amount of $2,190,390.94, No. 168882 in the amount of $3,000.00,
and No. 169028 through 169032 in the amount of $114,187.30; ASB Fund Warrant No. 168828
through 168850 in the amount of $29,260.42 and No. 169033 through 169055 in the amount of
$18,266.66; and Private Purpose Trust Fund Warrant No. 168851 through 168855 in the amount
of $1,774.45 and No. 169056 through 169063 in the amount of $8,424.90. Total payroll for
December 30, 2008 was $1,914,399.72, which includes General Fund Warrant No. 168856
through 168876 and 168884 and 169064 through 169163 in the amount of $660,458.11, and
direct deposits of $910,731.39.
Approval of Personnel Actions
Approval of Service Contracts
Approval of November Budget Status Report
Approval of Interdistrict Cooperative Agreement Establishing the Washington Network for
Innovative Careers
OLD BUSINESS
Cedarcrest High School Science Department Presentation
Dr. Smith introduced Cedarcrest Science teachers, Bruce Murdock, Kellie Halverson, and
Michael Moran. Mr. Murdock thanked the Board for the opportunity to share information on
Cedarcrest’s first-rate Science Department, which also includes teachers Denise Robison and
Amy Rieke. The PowerPoint presented was entitled “Large and Small-Scale Strategies for
Engaging Students in Science.”
-3-
Cedarcrest High School Science Department Presentation, Cont.
The goals of the Cedarcrest Science Program are to reach struggling learners, challenge highperforming students, and prepare all students to be competitive in science post high school. The
department believes in keeping continuity between teachers, using department-wide rubrics,
having websites, and teaching through hands-on learning and inquiry learning.
Mr. Moran explained the use of www.turnitin.com for assignments which limits paper use on
formal lab reports and essays, as well as allowing students to easily submit rough drafts for
feedback. The annual Rube Goldberg event is a requirement for 9th grade Science students,
giving them the opportunity to learn something about machines, experience success, and have
fun. This event also engages parents and the community.
Ms. Halverson described some of the 10th grade Biology activities such as the cell analogy
project, the biome project, and ecology field studies. For insect identification, students observe,
create, build and evaluate models of insects using a dichotomous key. In the spring, students
dissect small animals, studying the internal systems, thanks to grants from the Riverview
Education Foundation.
Mr. Murdock shared information about the Honors Track students who are all required to enter
the annual Cedarcrest Science and Engineering Fair. Each project includes topic selection,
literature review, peer review, data collection, analysis, conclusion, and presentation. The
community is involved in the fair through adult sponsors, human study participants, materials
and expertise, and judging. Cedarcrest sent four students to the state science fair, with one of our
9th grade students receiving a Blue Ribbon as well as an offer for a full scholarship to college.
The Cedarcrest Science Fair is held on Saturday, February 28, 2009, at 1:00 PM at Cedarcrest.
Some of the topics this year are: How will liquids work on Chadni Plates? An Investigation into
Change Blindness; Superventricular Tachycardia; A Different Solar Array; and Leg Length and
Speed.
The Cedarcrest Science Department prepares students for college or work through organizational
skills; procedures and follow-through; accuracy; thinking “outside of the box;” technical
communication, creativity, and thinking in terms of systems.
The Board thanked the Science Department staff for making science fun and visible in our
community.
RECESS
Mr. Bawden recessed the Board Meeting at 8:13 PM for five minutes and called the meeting
back to order at 8:17 PM.
Calendar Committee Recommendations for Make-up Days
Mr. Robertson explained the Calendar Committee derives from the REA negotiated agreement
and consists of two administrators, three teachers, two classified employees, two parents and one
community member. This committee develops the 3-year calendars for the district, and also
meets annually in January to review any changes to the current year’s calendar.
-4-
Calendar Committee Recommendations for Make-up Days, Cont.
The task of the Committee on January 12, 2009 was to develop a recommendation to the
Riverview School Board on how to make up the six lost school days during November and
December of 2008, and January of 2009. The six days are: November 13, December 17, 18 &
19, January 8 & 9.
After discussing the advantages and disadvantages of various options, the Calendar Committee
recommended to the School Board the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Have school on January 28, 2009, which currently is a teacher workday for Report Cards
(TRI Day #3), and add TRI Day #3 to the end of the school year.
Extend the 1st Semester from January 27 to January 30, 2009. Begin the 2nd Semester on
February 2, 2009.
Use the three designated make-up days (June 17, 18, and 19), ending the 2008-09 school
year on June 19, 2009.
Apply for five state waiver days for the December snow storm and the January flooding.
If granted, use two of the waiver days to complete the six missed days.
Set aside three waivers, if granted, for any future missed days this school year.
Motion 09-03: To accept the recommendations of the Calendar Committee and to authorize the
Superintendent to apply to OSPI for five waiver days missed under emergency district-wide
conditions on December 17, 18 & 19, 2008 and January 8 and 9, 2009. (Van Noy and Pflugrath)
Unanimous.
The Board thanked the Committee and acknowledged the cooperation of both unions in this
decision.
NEW BUSINESS
Board Agenda Topics
The Board agreed to move several agenda items from the January 27th meeting to the February
10th meeting to provide more balance. The Board added On-Line Learning Presentation to the
“parking lot.”
REPORTS
Enrollment Report
Mr. Robertson noted January enrollment only went down 3.49 FTE, which is atypical for
January. The district is still up almost 30 FTE since September. The next important count will
be February at the semester change.
-5-
Superintendent Report
1. In addition to comments made under Communications, Mr. Robertson said he was very
impressed with the expediency of King County road crews in fixing Carnation Farm Road
and the Woodinville-Duvall Road.
2. On Wednesday, January 7, he approved the Eastside Fire District using the RSD
Transportation and Maintenance Building for an emergency site if their facility was flooded,
with access to our facility and use of our fuel supply if needed. As it turned out, they didn’t
need our facility.
3. Over the weekend he did monitor the roads reopening and drove the school district to gage
any impact on bus routes for Monday morning. City, King County and the fire and rescue
staff were helpful in providing information on flood conditions, road repair time tables and
availability of roads for Monday bus routes.
4. On Wednesday, January 14, the district will hold a meeting to hear public comments
regarding the proposed field construction and improvements and the parking lot expansion at
CHS. The meeting will be held in the CHS Learning Resource Center at 7:00 PM.
5. On Thursday, January 22, Bill Adamo and he will attend the Duvall City Council meeting on
school impact fees. This 7:00 PM meeting was rescheduled due to the flood last week.
6. On Friday, January 15, he will attend an Education Service District meeting where the main
focus will be the legislative session and the possible budget reductions. Friday, January 23,
he will be attending a Skills Center meeting at Lake Washington School District followed by
Senior Project presentations at CHS.
RECESS
Mr. Bawden recessed the school board meeting at 9:07 for a 5-minute break and entered into
Executive Session at 9:12 PM to discuss one personnel item for approximately 20 minutes.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
One personnel item was discussed.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Bawden called the meeting back to order at 9:31 PM. There being no further business, he
adjourned the January 13, 2009 School Board meeting at 9:31 PM.
________________________________
Board President
_________________________________
Superintendent
MINUTES PREPARED BY
Cheryl B. Layman, Recording Secretary to the Board of Directors.
-6-