RIVERVIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 407
CARNATION, WA 98014
Minutes of Board of Directors’ Meeting
October 27, 2009
District Office – Conference Room A/B
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Bawden, Board President, called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM, followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Mr. Bawden, Mrs. Van Noy, Mr. Pflugrath, Ms. Oviatt, Mr. Edwards
Student Representatives: Ms. Bawden, Ms. Fields
CHERRY VALLEY ELEMENTARY STUDENT PRESENTATION
Karen Mayfield, District Elementary Technology Instructional Specialist, started a program in all
the elementary schools, called Tech Kids, where older students help younger students, as well as
the teachers in the computer labs. She brought Cherry Valley Elementary students to the Board
meeting to share what they like best about being a Tech Kid. Ben, a 3rd grader, said he liked
working with the kindergarten students by guiding them to the right place. Mckenna, 3 rd grade,
thought the younger kids were cute and sweet. Josh, 4th grade, felt troubleshooting tech
problems was fun. Emma, 2nd grade, liked helping first grade students by giving them good
ideas on projects. Alexa, 2nd grade, liked helping the little kids learn new things. Brynja, 2nd
grade, helped the teacher by helping the 1st graders read what was on the screen. Ashley, 2nd
grade, worked with first graders on different websites. Kyra, 4th grade, said she liked learning
new things and it was fun helping others learn new things. Kylie, 4th grade, helped other
students solve problems and enjoyed creating a book with them. Grace, 4th grade, loved helping
others learn new things, like drawing and writing. Casey, 4th grade, enjoyed how polite the kids
are, always saying thank you. Kennedy, 4th grade, liked helping kids figure out what to do and
helping teachers answer all the questions. Ms. Mayfield thanked the Board for the opportunity to
present. She noted that there are 80 Tech Kids at Cherry Valley and 225 district-wide. Mr.
Bawden thanked all the students, staff and parents for coming.
“GREAT SCHOOLS” AWARD PRESENTATION FOR CHERRY VALLEY
ELEMENTARY
Greg Lobdell, Center for Educational Effectiveness, explained this is the third year the School of
Distinction Award, or Great Schools Award as it is now called, has been given. This award is
about academic improvement, looking at five years of data in reading and math combined across
the state. Cherry Valley Elementary is one of only 16 buildings in the state that is a repeat
winner, both in 2007 and 2009. Improvement in Riverview School District is strong. For
example, Cedarcrest High School barely missed the award, as 24 buildings were awarded out of
370, and Cedarcrest was 26 on the list. Congratulations to all of Riverview School District.
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RECESS
Mr. Bawden recessed the Board Meeting at 7:25 PM for a 5-minute break to thank the guests.
He called the meeting back to order at 7:30 PM.
COMMUNICATIONS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS AND HEARING OF PUBLIC
Mr. Bawden reviewed the Board’s activities this past week. The WSSDA Regional meeting in
Tukwila was attended by Mr. Edwards, Mrs. Van Noy and Mr. Bawden. The Board Roundtable
on high school athletics was last week. Mrs. Van Noy, Mr. Robertson and Mr. Bawden met with
Board representatives from Lake Washington School District on October 21 to discuss the
boundary transfer petition and will bring the results to the November 10th meeting. The Board
held a Work Study this evening on student achievement. Tomorrow the Board will hold a
Roundtable with Health and Human Services, but cancelled the scheduled Work Study after the
Roundtable on the WSSDA conference presentation. Next Tuesday is the Board’s Roundtable
with the Math Curriculum Adoption Team, being held at Cedarcrest High School.
Mrs. Van Noy attended the WSSDA District 2 meeting, noting Bob Butts presented great
information from OSPI. She also mentioned that she watched the Seattle School Board’s
meeting on TV one night.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion 09-61: To approve the October 27, 2009 Consent Agenda as presented. (Van Noy and
Edwards) Unanimous.
Approval of Regular School Board Meeting Minutes for October 13, 2009
Approval of Warrants
General Fund Warrant No. 173258 through 173391 in the amount of $143,571.18, and direct
deposits of $1,325.48; Capital Projects Fund Warrant No. 173392 through 173409 in the amount
of $179,690.99; ASB Fund Warrant No. 173410 through 173434 in the amount of $16,670.38;
and Private Purpose Trust Fund Warrant No. 173435 in the amount of $77.00. Total payroll for
October 15, 2009 was $25,561.40, which includes General Fund Warrant No. 173436 through
173442 in the amount of $1,463.77, and direct deposits of $19,040.40.
Approval of Personnel Actions
Approval of Service Contracts
Approval of Budget Status Reports
Approval of Donations
The Board acknowledged the donation from The Linnerooth Team of a baby printing press to the
CHS Art Department and the donation from Mrs. Glenda Robinson to the CHS sports program of
a Philips HeartStart Defibrillator.
Approval of Out of State Travel for FBLA Leadership Conference
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CONSENT AGENDA, Cont.
Approval of Resolution 09-05 Excess levy for 2010
Mr. Adamo explained this provides levy capacity and taxpayer benefits due to a change in
calculations from OSPI.
OLD BUSINESS
Bond Issue Financing Presentation
Mr. Adamo introduced Jon Gores, Senior Vice President of D.A. Davidson, and Cynthia Weed,
attorney from K&L Gates, who presented information on the fourth and last bond sale.
Mr. Gores explained the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided several
new options to minimize borrowing costs. One is the Build America Bonds (BABs) where the
district issues taxable bonds at a higher rate than tax-exempt bonds and the federal government
reimburses the district for 35% of the interest paid on the bonds. Another option is Qualified
School Construction Bonds (QSCBs). The district issues bonds and only repays the principal
with little or no interest. Buyers of the bonds receive a federal tax credit. The maturity date is
fixed when the bonds are sold; currently the date is 16 years. This market is developing but
presently there is a limited group of buyers. Depending on market conditions, the district may
have to either pay a supplemental coupon or sell the QSCB at a discount. The benefit to QSCBs
for Riverview is a savings to the taxpayers of around $2.5 million over regular bonds. However,
the timeline for spending proceeds from QSCBs is tighter than regular bonds. He described
using a sinking fund as a way to levy property taxes and set them aside to earn interest, then
paying off the principal when due. Mr. Gores also reviewed the timeline for Board approval and
sale of the bonds.
Ms. Weed explained some of the risks involved with the QSCBs, such as penalties if you don’t
spend the money in three years, or if you pay off the bonds early, or if you spend them
incorrectly. She will provide a Resolution at the November 10th Board meeting that authorizes
the superintendent to execute the sale of the bonds.
Construction Update
Sean Ryan, Heery International, briefly updated the bond projects.
Carnation Elementary
Construction drawings are currently in development.
Planning for construction phasing is ongoing.
The SEPA checklist draft has been forwarded to legal counsel for final review prior to
publishing.
Cedarcrest High School Field Improvements
Construction document development is ongoing.
The City of Duvall has agreed to allow the existing pond outflow to remain as currently
constructed. Additional geotechnical testing has been done on site and analysis of the
tests is ongoing with the engineers. There remains the possibility that the district will not
have to tight line the storm water off site.
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OLD BUSINESS, Cont.
Construction Update, Cont.
Cedarcrest High School Remodel
CDK is gathering the close out documentation to submit for final acceptance.
Cherry Valley Elementary
The SEPA checklist draft has been forwarded to legal counsel for final review prior to
publishing.
Construction drawing development has started. The design team is currently working on
developing the construction phasing plan.
The City of Duvall has requested the installation of a new bike lane and sidewalk
adjacent to the school along Cherry Valley Road. The design team has forwarded their
concerns regarding this requirement and is currently working with the City for alternate
solutions. Safety of students is the utmost concern.
Riverview Learning Center
Construction document development is underway.
The City of Carnation has ruled that the building height is allowable up to 35 feet. This
decision allows the full use of the multipurpose room as intended.
Tolt Middle School Field Improvements
Final documentation is being gathered by the contractor for project close out.
Tolt Middle School Remodel
Allied Construction has submitted preliminary close out documentation to Erickson
McGovern in accordance with procedures.
Erickson McGovern is currently scheduled to be on site to check the status of Allied’s
punch list corrections.
Tolt’s commissioning process is ongoing.
Student Representative Report
The Board moved the Student Representative Report up on the agenda to accommodate the
students as the meeting was running late. Ms. Fields reported as follows:
ASB:
Several Officers went to WASC, a leadership camp in Eastern Washington, at the
beginning of October and brought home a lot of great ideas for assemblies and
fundraisers.
Currently working on increasing the number of fundraisers and focusing more on raising
money for charity.
Also working on planning a Halloween assembly for this Friday with games, sports and
club updates, and a special surprise!
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Student Representative Report, Cont.
ORGANIZATIONS:
FFA: has had their first chapter meeting and are competing in a forestry competition in
Aberdeen on the 28th, as well as a Spokane floral competition on the 30th.
DECA: had their first major event of the year two weeks ago: Lasertag! There was not a
very large turnout due to the pouring rain that day, but students still had fun. The
Safeway Takeover that was planned for last Tuesday has been postponed and will occur
at a later date in the spring. Sunday Oct. 25 through Tuesday Oct. 27 was the Fall
Leadership Conference for DECA. Several students attended as well as a couple of FBLA
officers who wanted to participate in some of the workshops.
FBLA: has been getting the espresso stand up and running, as well as the student store
which will undergo extensive remodeling in the next few weeks. This Thursday they have
set up a date for members to sell The River Current subscriptions at Safeway; for every
subscription sold, members get $5 toward their chapter (which will go towards paying off
their membership and conference dues). On October 19th several members attended the
West Central Region's Fall Conference. They have been focusing their attention on
working at Camp Korey and will be volunteering with the King County Parks next month
and are planning on starting their “go green program.” Socials will be coming up for
members to get to know each other and have fun!
Ms. Bawden continued the report:
 NHS: Had their first meeting today with all of the new members. Everyone was split into
groups for Foodball, NHS’s annual food drive coming up in the winter. For the past
couple weeks the officers have been meeting to come up with a plan for the year.
 ConnectedEDU: Half Day Friday classes for ConnectedEDU have begun and the students
are working on their projects. A group from last year just took a trip to Burbank,
California to give a presentation to Disney and they did great!
 TSA: For the past few weeks, they have been working on getting ready for this year’s
competitions, trying to do even better than last year. They have done two practice
competitions for their members. TSA has also done a bake sale and organized a CTSO
night at a haunted house. That activity took place this last Saturday and was called the
Nightmare at Beaver Lake; all members of CTSOs were invited and there was a huge
turnout.
SPORTS:
 Cross Country: Girls won leagues on Saturday! Now the top 7 boys and girls along with
2 alternates from each team advance to districts on October 31st, where it is expected that
the girls’ team and possibly some of the boy runners will qualify for state.
 Girls’ Soccer: Varsity finished their season third in the league, and they head to playoffs
Saturday October 31st. The game is at 11:00 at Whatcom Community College.
 Volleyball: Varsity has their last game of the season tonight at Lakewood High School.
Last week they hosted senior night and celebrated two seniors on the team.
 Football: After winning Friday’s game because of the forfeit by Coupeville, the final
game of the season is Thursday the 29th at Lakewood. They finished second in the league
and will have a playoff game November 7th, making that Senior Night as well.
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2010 Levy Presentation and Authorization
Mr. Adamo reviewed the assumptions and statistics of the levy issues, including enrollment
projections, state basic education per pupil funding, continuation of federal stimulus revenue,
pension rates, and contingency levy capacity.
The Four-Year Replacement Educational Programs Maintenance and Operations Levy (M&O
Levy) continues to bridge the 20 percent gap between what the state and federal government
allocates for basic education and what is required to fund the programs currently offered in
Riverview. These levy dollars are needed to pay for program and operations costs, such as
additional classroom teachers to maintain class sizes, librarians, music specialists, physical
education specialists, counselors, special education, gifted/remediation programs, educational
assistants, textbooks and library books, maintenance, transportation and food services costs,
extracurricular and athletic programs and staff, staff training, and other support staff.
Motion 09-62: To authorize the superintendent to proceed with the process for running a fouryear Educational Programs Maintenance and Operations Levy on February 9, 2010, in the
amount of $5,829,000 at an estimated tax rate of $1.95 per $1,000 assessed valuation in 2011;
$6,069,000 at an estimated tax rate of $1.97 in 2012; $6,520,000 at an estimated tax rate of $2.06
in 2013; and $6,730,000 at an estimated tax rate of $2.06 in 2014. (Pflugrath and Bawden)
Unanimous.
Mr. Censullo presented a PowerPoint on the technology levy. The Four-Year Replacement
Technology Capital Projects Levy continues to provide the funding needed to enhance education
with technology. Because the state does not include technology in its definition of basic
education, all school technology and the training to use and teach it must come from funds
approved by local voters. The technology levy funding would augment the educational
environment by replacing existing outdated technology, enhancing classroom technologies and
improving communications and safety systems, while continuing funding for computer
technicians, technology integration specialists, and professional staff development to maximize
student learning and interaction.
Motion 09-63: To authorize the superintendent to proceed with the process for running a fouryear Technology Capital Projects Levy on February 9, 2010 in the amount of $967,581 per year
at an estimated tax rate of 32 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation in 2011; 31 cents in 2012; 30
cents in 2013; and 30 cents in 2014. (Oviatt and Edwards) Unanimous.
Mr. Adamo explained that the Two-Year Transportation Levy would generate enough revenue
together with the state reimbursement dollars to keep the fleet of buses up to date for a ten-year
period. Buses that are being depreciated generate state revenue, but fully-depreciated buses (1/4
of our fleet) generate nothing from the state. The plan is to purchase 23 new buses over a tenyear period. The $500,000 levy revenue represents only 17% of the estimated $2,894,800
needed for the 23 bus acquisitions.
Motion 09-64: To authorize the superintendent to proceed with the process for running a twoyear Transportation Vehicle Fund Levy on February 9, 2010 in the amount of $250,000 in each
year of 2011 and 2012 at an estimated tax rate of 8 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation per year.
(Pflugrath and Bawden) Unanimous.
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OLD BUSINESS, Cont.
Strategic Plan Status
Goal 1: Increase the academic achievement of all students.
Objective 1A: Increase the personalization of student learning by implementing a non-evaluative
Student Learning Protocol and providing staff development specific to learning targets.
Task 1: Principals and Program Managers (and teachers) will participate in forums on
Student Learning Protocol. Dr. Smith has been working for two years on a standardized
protocol and chose Leadership Innovations Team (LIT) Student Learning Protocol. The
general purpose of this student learning protocol tool is to: provide teachers with a lens
for focusing on student learning; provide a means for teachers to collaborate, self reflect,
and improve practice; and provide a non-evaluative, self reflective and directed process
for professional growth. This occurs in lots of different ways, through our mentoring
program, professional learning communities, and management level in buildings. Every
one of our buildings has a core group of people who have visited other school districts
and used this tool in their observations. Another area we are looking at has to do with
student evidence, using six indicators ranging from “not today” to “clearly observable.”
Indicators are (1) positive behavior; (2) aligned instruction (3) student engagement, (4)
student centered instruction; (5) student assessment for learning; and (6) assessment of
learning. This is totally focused on student improvement.
Objective 1B: Improve State assessment scores in reading, writing, and math to meet or exceed
80% of students meeting standard with 60% of students meeting or exceeding standard in science
by 2010.
Task 2: Implement K-12 Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) on-line assessment
system to monitor student academic progress in mathematics. Dr. Smith reported on
progress already made. He passed out information on the RIT Reference Chart for
Mathematics, showing the RIT scale and the math areas assessed. Students will get a
RIT score from October’s testing, and then take the testing again in January and also at
the end of the year, to show a full year’s progress. The teachers have already done the
first assessment. This is Phase 2 of the math adoption process, which is assessment and
intervention.
Goal 2: Provide a financial process, business practices, and safe facilities to support the
improvement of student learning.
Objective 2D: Develop and implement an annual district policy review process.
Task 1: Develop list of policy documents to review in 2009/2010.
Task 2: Develop review policy protocol. Mr. Robertson reported that Policy Series 1000,
which pertains to Board operations, would be reviewed in 2009-10. He presented the
policy review protocol which includes (1) read policies/procedures for grammar and
spelling; (2) review RCW’s for current and applicable law; (3) review relevance of policy
as it applies to Riverview; (4) determine if policies are being followed; (5) have Board
read policies and comment on any concerns; and (6) develop list of policies to be
reviewed and/or eliminated to present to the Board.
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NEW BUSINESS
REPORTS
Superintendent Report
Mr. Robertson thanked the school board for their attendance at last week’s roundtable on
Cedarcrest High School athletics. The last two roundtables will be tomorrow with health and
human service providers in the valley and school counselors, and on November 3rd with the Math
Curriculum Adoption Team.
He reported since the October 13 Board meeting, he has participated in the following meetings:
design meetings for the Riverview Learning Center, Carnation and Cherry Valley elementary
and the Cedarcrest fields/seating/parking lots; Board leadership meeting, WaNIC Skills Center
Board meeting, and various other school construction meetings. On Saturday, October 24, he
opened the Tolt Middle School Multi-Purpose Room for the Carnation-Duvall Medical Corp to
hold a drill to prepare for future flu vaccinations in the valley.
On Friday, October 23, there was no school so Riverview staff could attend one of the following
training sessions: MAP Stepping Stones Training, How to Use the Math Data; Mentoring
Matters to qualify for becoming personal growth mentors to work with teachers new to the
profession; and Secure Training (Right Response) to develop strategies to safely de-escalate
volatile special education student behavior. Mr. Robertson complimented Dr. Smith for his
handling of these quality trainings, while dealing with his son’s accident.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mr. Bawden adjourned the October 27, 2009 Board meeting at
9:46 PM.
___________________________________
Board President
___________________________________
Board Secretary
MINUTES PREPARED BY
Cheryl B. Layman, Recording Secretary to the Board of Directors.
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