RIVERVIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 407
CARNATION, WA 98014
Minutes of Board of Directors’ Meeting
February 28, 2012
District Office – Conference Room A/B
CALL TO ORDER
Ms. Oviatt, Board President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM, followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Ms. Oviatt, Mr. Bawden, Mrs. Van Noy, Mr. Edwards, Ms. Fletcher
Student Representatives: Mr. Koons, Ms. Leslie
CEDARCREST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT PRESENTATION
Mr. Lavarias, Principal, explained that this is the first year of the Robotics class and it’s turned
out to be a wonderful program. He introduced Michael Miyoshi, FIRST Robotics teacher. Mr.
Miyoshi then introduced the CHS “Stealth” FIRST Robotics team representatives, Jacob Knoth,
Nathan Sutherland, and Madison Waterman, all students. FIRST (For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and Technology) inspires students to become better leaders and
encourages students that are not interested in sports to get involved. The CHS FIRST Robotics
team has 26 members who have built a robot to compete in a basketball game played between
two alliances of three teams each. Their upcoming competition will be held on March 22, 23 and
24, 2012, at Century Link Field. Mr. Miyoshi showed a video and pictures of the robotic. The
Board asked some questions and requested an invitation to their upcoming competition, which
will also be video-streamed. The Board thanked all for their very informative presentation.
COMMUNICATIONS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS AND HEARING OF PUBLIC
Ms. Oviatt mentioned the board attended a work study on the Nutrition Policy prior to tonight’s
meeting. She also attended the REF (Riverview Education Foundation) Dinner and Auction on
February 25th. She noted that Mr. Koons also attended this event, which raised over $40,000 this
year. She thanked Mrs. Bechtel for filling in as recording secretary, while Mrs. Layman is on
vacation.
Mrs. Van Noy attended a CCER (Community Center for Education Results) meeting with Mary
Jean Ryan. The meeting focused on parent and community involvement to improve education
from “cradle to career”. She also attended the REF Dinner and Auction and won/bought five
bouquets of flowers.
Mr. Bawden attended the REF dinner and auction and enjoyed it very much. He noted that he
will be unable to attend Friday’s Board work study. He reminded members about the WSSDA
Regional Meeting in Tukwila on Thursday, March 29th from 6-8:30 PM. Let Mrs. Bechtel know
if you will be attending.
Ms. Fletcher went to the CHS Science and Engineering Fair where she saw many interesting
projects. Several students are taking it to the next level by competing in a science and
engineering fair at Bellevue College next month. She also attended the REF dinner and auction,
which was a lot of fun.
Mr. Edwards reported that he and Mrs. Van Noy have been participating in a call-in with Marie
Sullivan, the WSSDA Legislative Director, as there is much going on towards the end of the
legislative session. He thanked Mrs. Van Noy for her participation.
Ms. Oviatt and Mrs. Van Noy attended a WSSDA Planning Committee meeting on Saturday,
February 25th.
Student Representative Report
Mr. Koons and Ms. Leslie shared the student report.
ASB: PTSA and ASB joined together to purchase Cedarcrest’s very own reader board
inside the commons.
FFA: FFA recently finished selling chocolate roses for their Valentine’s Day fundraiser.
They also took place in National FFA Week, February 18-25.
DECA: DECA is currently preparing for State Competition on April 12-14. CHS will be
sending 8 students to the competition.
NHS: NHS just had their first blood drive of the year last Friday with a huge turnout.
The school gave enough blood to help or save the lives of 192 people in our local area.
The next blood drive will be May 25th, which will be open to the community.
TSA: TSA had a meeting on February 28th to further discuss the State Competition. CHS
will be sending 19 students and TMS will be sending 27 students to the competition in
late March. TSA also has 2 students running for positions in State TSA Leadership.
RAK: RAK is hard at work planning a Kindness Week in April. They will be collecting
personal products, clothing, and food for Hopelink. This will include an assembly on
April 27th. RAK has also received an award from the Random Acts of Kindness
Foundation. They were one of three programs selected from 55 applications to receive
this award.
VSMA: VSMA is preparing for their State Conference and planning upcoming
fundraisers.
Wrestling: Cedarcrest finished the season 1st in league, 2nd in our region, and 5th in the
state. Individual placers at the state tournament are: Carlos Toledano (5th – 145), Cody
Paxman (2nd – 160), Martin Vakamoce (6th – 170), and Robby MacNair (2nd – 285).
They had 9 state qualifiers with 1 alternate. Cody Paxman was also Region 1 Wrestler of
the Year and Coach Eric Pedeferri was Region 1 Coach of the Year.
Boys’ Basketball: Of the 2A schools, CHS took 1st in league. They then found
themselves taking 2nd at districts and moving on to state. They battled Kingston in the
first round of state and lost by 1 point. Zach Taylor was voted the Cascade Conference’s
Most Valuable Player and was also nominated at the state level. Justin Houser was voted
for 2nd team and Chris Dowd received an honorable mention. Coach Mark Prince was
Coach of the Year.
Girls’ Basketball: The team took 3rd in the league and made it to districts, but lost to
Lynden. Kailyn Campbell and Susan Kenney both made the Cascade Conference’s 1st
team.
Spring sports started yesterday. The unexpected snow made practices a little challenging.
Boys’ soccer, girls’ fastpitch, track and field, boys’ baseball, and golf have now begun.
Cheers’ Tolo dance is this Saturday, March 2nd, from 8-11 PM in the CHS commons.
The theme is “For the Love of the Game.”
Hearing of Public
Peggy Filer, the CHS Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Club and health teacher, introduced
RAK officers Sara Ullman, Maggie Gronberg, Robby MacNair and Chad Klingenberg. Leanne
Christensen nominated their club for an award from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.
Out of 55 applicants, their club is one of three national champs! A video is being made of all
three winners. For their video, CHS will have a school assembly on April 27th in the afternoon
to link gratitude with kindness. In attendance will be: Samantha Ritter, one of the original RAK
students; Connie Berg, who started RAK in Duvall; and Leanne Christensen. They invited the
Board to attend as well. After school they’ll be doing clean-up and then going to Ixtapa where
they’ll pool their money and pay for other people’s dinners.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion 12-12: To approve the February 28, 2012, Consent Agenda as presented. (Fletcher and
Edwards) Unanimous.
Approval of Regular School Board Meeting Minutes for February 14, 2012
Approval of Warrants
General Fund Warrant No. 184032 through 184122 in the amount of $135,477.98, and direct
deposits of $16,852.95; Capital Projects Fund Warrant No. 184123 through 184137 in the
amount of $42,992.93, and direct deposits of $192.98; ASB Fund Warrant No. 184138 through
184149 in the amount of $5,669.62, and direct deposits of $235.87; and Private Purpose Trust
Fund Warrant No. 184150 through 184154 in the amount of $1,691.61, and direct deposits of
$647.80. Total payroll for February 15, 2012, was $15,708.12, which includes General Fund
Warrant No. 184031 in the amount of $981.31, and direct deposits of $11,807.16.
Approval of Personnel Actions
Approval of Service Contracts
Approval of Budget Status Reports
Approval of Donations
OLD BUSINESS
Cedarcrest High School School Improvement Plan
Dr. Smith; Mr. Lavarias, Principal; Ray LaBate, Assistant Principal; and Mr. Ruhland, CHS
Teacher, provided information on the CHS School Improvement Plan (SIP). Mr. Lavarias
explained that the CHS SIP is a living document and staff members are assigned to oversee four
areas. Mr. Ruhland oversees the professional development; Mr. LaBate oversees the
environment goal; and Mr. Lavarias oversees the curriculum instruction and assessment. Each
department has an action plan, focusing on these four areas.
Curriculum: Mr. Lavarias explained the curriculum goal is to develop, review, and revise
curriculum to ensure alignment with the established State Learning Standards and State Career
and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum requirements. The current standards are temporary
and will change in the 2013-2014 school year. They have kept that in mind while doing the
scope and sequence document to see what is common to both sets of standards.
Assessment: Under assessment, Mr. Lavarias is hoping to maintain the high degree of pass rate
on HSPE, reading, writing and EOC (End of Course) assessments in math. Right now EOC1
(algebra) is an area of focus and Mr. Ruhland is working with the struggling math students in
pre-algebra. They are also looking at the MAP testing to identify areas of weakness to increase
student scoring and math skills. For EOC2 (geometry), they have a pass rate of 92.9%, so the
math curriculum is working.
Professional Development: Mr. Ruhland said they started the 2010-11 school year with a huge
focus on professional development. The professional development focused on learning targets,
which are a student’s version of an agenda for the day for every class period. A group was
trained in August by the Learning Innovations Team. On CPT days, the Learning Improvement
Team (a team of 6 staff members) provides trainings for staff on student learning targets and
student learning protocols. Almost all teachers have now instituted learning targets. In March
the Learning Improvement Team will trained on doing a learning walk, which is where a small
group of teachers go into other classrooms and then reflect on what’s happening to see what they
can use from that teacher in their own classroom. He briefly read comments from teachers on
the benefits of learning targets. Mr. Lavarias commented that learning targets are directly in line
with the upcoming new teacher evaluation system.
Environment: Mr. LaBate explained that he meets with all 8th grade students and encourages
them to be involved and have a good time at CHS. The Environment Committee is a group of 10
staff members that brainstorm ways to improve the environment at CHS. One assessment is the
discipline and attendance report, which he handed out to Board members. He briefly went over
other programs they have used over the past few years, like Wolf Paw Program, positive post
cards, encouraging staff to meet students in the hallway to help with the flow of students in the
crowded hallways. Their Environment Committee will be adding two new members (students)
for their input. Mr. Ruhland is working with the ASB Advisory and has the ASB executive
officers each head up one of four areas: community service, school spirit, ASB projects, and
assemblies.
Mrs. Van Noy commented about assessment and curriculum with regards to 8th graders that
move up to 9th grade. She and Ms. Oviatt went to a conference and heard Bill Daggett, who
studies best practices in the nation. His research indicates that in some schools when a math or
English teacher transitions up with the students from 8th grade to 9th grade, the results are
amazing. Then the teacher transitions back to middle school the following year. From middle
school to high school is a key transition and she encourages them to look into this. Mr. Ruhland
commented that in January, the math department is creating a three week curriculum that is both
math and study-related right at the beginning of the freshman year. He’s pushing to implement
and pilot this next year with the hope of then trying it out at the middle school with 8th graders
getting the same program, only at the 8th grade level.
Mr. Bawden commented that he is astounded by the depth of their SIP. He asked how they were
going to manage the plan and do it all. Mr. Lavarias replied that he relies on his department
heads to monitor the follow-up on the actions plans and timelines for accomplishments. The
departments also meet for 45 minutes to an hour on CPT days to go over their department’s
specific areas of need.
Dr. Smith said he’s very proud of what this school has been doing and it’s leadership. The Board
agreed and thanked them for their terrific presentation.
The Board took a 5 minute break at 8:45 PM.
2012-2013 Budget Development
Mr. Robertson went over the potential increases and losses in revenue for the 2012-13 budget
development. One potential revenue increase is an increase of 113 FTE in projected enrollment,
which he attributed to current developers in Duvall. He also briefly went over the potential
impacts of the proposed Governor’s Budget, House Budget and Senate Budget. Mr. Adamo
noted that the district anticipated a $269,000 rollback of levy revenue in the 2011-12 final
budget. However the district experienced an additional unbudgeted rollback of $161,000,
because the levy lid formula was reduced. This amount will need to be budgeted for in the 20122013 school year.
Strategic Plan Status
Goal 1: Increase the academic achievement of all students.
Objective 1C: Evaluate the K-12 Academically Talented/Honors program.
Task 2: Provide mid-year report on two-year evaluation process for honors/highly
capable student program.
Dr. Smith reported that an update was given at the last Board meeting. He said we have
outstanding external evaluators to help the committee with the program review.
Goal 3: Provide Human Resources and Communication practices to improve student
learning.
Objective 3C: Develop and implement a parent and community relations program.
Task 3: Conduct internal stakeholders communications survey.
Dr. Smith reported that an update will be provided in April.
Second Reading Policies 1010, 2015, 4040, 5020, 5095, and 6950
Motion 12-13: To approve Policies 1010, 2015, 4040, 5020, 5095, and 6950 for Second
Reading. (Van Noy and Edwards) Unanimous.
NEW BUSINESS
First Reading, Policy 2085, Alterative Learning Experience Programs
OSPI revised the Alternative Learning Experience rules regarding the information required to be
contained in policy. Previously the rules required detailed program requirements be present in
boards’ policies. Under the ALE rules revision that took effect September 1, 2011, the requisites
for policy were reduced with the intent that the specific program requirements should be stated in
rule.
Motion 12-14: To approve Policy 2085 for First Reading. (Van Noy and Bawden) Unanimous.
REPORTS
Construction Report
Mr. Robertson provided a construction update. The punch list work is being completed on the
Cherry Valley Elementary, Riverview Learning Center and the CHS Fields/Parking Project. The
Tolt Middle School Parking Lot and Baseball Field Project are nearing completion. The design
of Maintenance/Grounds/Restrooms/Concession Facility is nearing completion by EriksonMcGovern Architects. Erickson-McGovern Architects are also nearing completion of the
remodeling plan for the Educational Service Center. Security cameras were installed last week
with internet wiring occurring this week.
Superintendent Report
1. Thank you to Carol Van Noy, Lori Oviatt, Jody Fletcher and Greg Bawden for attending the
REF Dinner and Auction on February 25th. Once again this was a highly successful event for
the Riverview Education Foundation to raise funds to award grants to teachers throughout the
school year.
2. Thank you to Jody Fletcher for attending the Cedarcrest High School Science and
Engineering Fair last weekend. Once again it was a very successful event with the
opportunity for CHS students to show their talents in the science and engineering fields. It
was gratifying to see the number of judges from our community share their expertise with
our students.
3. Thank you to Lori Oviatt for attending the state boys’ basketball game.
4. Since the last board meeting, I have attended a number of construction/remodeling meetings
for our two new projects – the Maintenance/Grounds/Restroom/Concession Project in
Carnation and the Educational Service Center in Duvall. I have attended the monthly Puget
Sound ESD meeting, board breakfast and leadership meetings, the state boys’ basketball
playoff game, the CHS Science and Engineering Fair, the Riverview Education Foundation
Dinner and Auction, and the monthly REA/Superintendent meeting.
5. As a reminder, I will be out of the district on bereavement leave beginning on Friday, March
2nd, but will be available by phone and e-mail.
Mrs. Oviatt reported that the Board Breakfast on Friday, March 2nd, is cancelled.
Legislative Report
Mr. Edwards read a brief summary of the call-in that he and Mrs. Van Noy were on.
Budget
House Ways & Means Committee passes SSB 2127, the supplemental operating budget, on
Saturday, on party lines (Democrats for, Republicans against).
Funding for the small high school instructors is restored. In addition, $3 million was provided
for the Governor’s “university/school district partnership” bill, which was HB 2606 and didn’t
pass out of the House Education Committee. The funding is for three pilot projects, one in
Seattle, one in Spokane and one other statewide, assumed at a $1 million each, where a
university would partner – at the request of the school district – with a school that is a lowestachieving school.
The largest rift in the budget committee was over the apportionment shift from June 2013 to July
2013, and the shift of the LEA payments from May and June to July.
The budget bill is expected to be acted on the House floor Tuesday.
Policy Bills
HB 2797 – Delaying the Science/Biology End of Course (EOC): The bill would remove the
requirement to pass the EOC biology assessment for the class of 2015 and 2016 while other
science exams or integrated exams are considered for adoption.
SSB 6442 – Consolidated Health Benefits: Marie Sullivan asked members to share the bill with
their finance directors and others at their district to determine impact. Mari Taylor indicated that
cost estimates were difficult and some sort of hold harmless is needed.
Revenue Bills
HB 2791 would repeal the non-resident sales tax exemption and send the new revenue to all-day
kindergarten programs. Several members said they were concerned about the impact of the
repeal, particularly on border counties. General consensus was to wait and see how the bill plays
out, but take an active role to support.
HB 2794 would repeal the tax exemption on mortgage interest for banks that operate in 10 or
more states. No direct link to education; bill had bipartisan support and is part of closing the
budget gap.
HB 2792 would use proceeds from lottery sales to support debt service payments for revenue
bonds that would be used for about $156 million in K-12 and higher education construction
projects. $40 million is new for energy efficiency grants; $10 million for small repair; and about
$10 million for distressed schools across the state. $6 million is for Seattle Public Schools, and a
number of skills centers would get additional funding or new funding. WSSDA position adopted
last September is to support the existing appropriation and not allow rollback; general consensus
was to support the additional funding.
Marie Sullivan just sent an update an hour ago and Mr. Edwards read part of it.
Senate Democrats release “no cuts” education budget. Senate Democratic leaders rolled out their
supplemental operating budget proposal of Tuesday, February 28th, issuing a clear statement that
education had taken enough cuts in recent year. SSB 5967 protects current K-12 and higher
education funding. In other words, there are no cuts to education programs, salaries, national
board bonuses, projects, etc. In fact, with a nod to McCleary, the proposal invests an additional
$32 million in K-3 class size reductions for schools that have a free and reduced-price lunch
eligible student population exceeding 50%. Senate Democrats propose rolling back two tax
exemptions (the B&O tax exemption on mortgage interests for big banks and a sales and use tax
on wind energy equipment) to fund the additional investment in K-3 class size reductions.
Like the House supplemental budget (HS 2127), the Senate proposal contains an apportionment
shift of about $340 million from June 2013 to July 2013, pushing the payment into the next
budget cycle. The Senate proposal, however, would make the payment shift permanent, creating
more predictability for school districts and reducing the impact on future budgets.
Unlike the House budget bill, Senate Democrats would not shift the Local Effort Assistance
(LEA) payments from May and June of 2013 to July of 2013. In addition, Senate Democrats
have not proposed either a reduction in the LEA percentage (beginning in August of 2013) or a
four percent levy lid rollback, as was proposed by their counterparts in the House.
“The budget honors the highest priority of families and communities across the state by making
no cuts to current K-12 or higher education funding, recognizing their importance to the future of
our residents and our state,” said Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, chair of the Senate Ways & Means
Committee.
WSSDA President Mary Fertakis responded to the news by saying, “For the first time in four
years, K-12 would not be cut if this budget is enacted. This is a win-win for all of our
Washington students.” She also said that a well-educated student population and work force is
needed to help get the state back on track and lead us out of this economic crisis. She applauded
Senate Democrats for building a budget that recognizes the paramount duty of the state and
acknowledges an investment in education is an investment in our future.
Mr. Edwards encouraged Board members to go to the WSSDA website if they haven’t already
done so and read the entire Legislative update.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Ms. Oviatt adjourned the February 28, 2012, Board Meeting at
9:27 PM.
_______________________________
Board President
____________________________________
Board Secretary
MINUTES PREPARED BY
Sandy Bechtel, Substitute Recording Secretary to the Board of Directors