School Board Meeting Handles Heavy Agenda

— by Ayn Gailey —

In celebration of School Board Appreciation Month, 6th-grade students, Hayden Shaefer and Finn Rubottom, on behalf of the student body, delivered a banner to School Board members at the regular monthly Orcas Island School District (OISD) board meeting. All board members —  Janet Brownell, Chris Sutton, Tony Ghazel, Scott Lancaster and Greg White — were thanked for their dedication and service to our school district and community.

More school spirit was in evidence as the ASB student body president described plans underway for their upcoming Winter Formal Dance and Prom; plans to register three spots with Leadership Camp; and recent efforts to “keep up morale” during finals last week by distributing care packages to inspire kids to keep up their energy and perform well during exams.

Mike Buckner,Career and Technical Education (CTE) Director, reported on the success of the  program, now functioning with 20 classes, which, according to Buckner, means more kids are “learning hands-on, career-driven skills.” He also notified the board that the CTE program is looking at Skills USA as a “good opportunity for our students to demonstrate leadership outside the classroom.” Skills USA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce by providing educational programs, events and competitions that support career and technical education (CTE). Buckner also indicated that they are looking to enhance the work-based program by finding apprenticeships (paid and volunteer) in the community to help students hone their skills. Board member Scott Lancaster mentioned that Buckner may want to look into the fact that, at one time, the OICF had “a 5k scholarship to fund any Orcas Island contractors willing to extend an apprenticeship to CTE students.”

Catherine Laflin, submitted a report on the school’s English Language Learning (ELL) program. The enrollment numbers have risen, and the school district now has 50 ELL students enrolled K-12 in the TBI (Transitional Bilingual Instructional Program) for the 2016/17 school year. Board member Greg White had questions about results after switching over to new online proficiency testing (ELPA21), however, Laflin informed the board that the state has been slow to provide complete results, therefore, they cannot ascertain the effects using numerical data. Laflin also noted that while the state requires a program in place, they don’t provide funding for the program. Her report also outlined that the current program description is a “push-in/pull-out model with a goal of Content Based Instruction (CBI)” through teachers who have been specifically trained in the field of second language acquisition and strategies. Laflin shared the success of recent parent/community outreach efforts, which have had excellent turn out.

Eric Webb, OISD Superintendent, announced that Lorena Stankevich is now officially principal of the elementary school and he commended her on the positive change in climate and morale in the elementary school, especially among staff.

Lorena reported on the success of recent assemblies and the visits by Safe San Juans, an organization that brought trained professionals in to speak with 4th thru 6th-graders about personal safety. Lorena also updated the board on progress being made with the 6th grade class, which has historically had challenges. After working very hard to accommodate parents with ongoing meetings, and sending out a survey to 6th grade parents from last year to gauge satisfaction levels on improvement, Stankevich noted that she will continue to work on communication with the parents. She also mentioned there was a meeting with a large group of 6th grade parents, herself, Kim Freeman and superintendent Webb to hear parents’ concerns on school climate. The survey results showed that a majority of parents are very satisfied and pleased with classroom instruction by Freeman and see a vast improvement over the classroom climate and academics over last year.

However, survey results also show parents still have concern over “classroom disruptions…lack of consequences…” and unease that there is still repeat unwanted behavior. Stankevich also noted she has updated the OIES Handbook to make improvements to how discipline, attendance and tardy issues are addressed.

Becky Bell, new Special Education Director, enthusiastically reported on the success of the program’s first special education parent night, which, according to Bell, “included break-out learning sessions from DVR/DSHS, WVS, Compass Health, OISD special education staff and others.” Bell, also principal of OASIS alternative education program, notified the board there had been more enrollment movement in January than usual, but the program still has 50 families on the wait list. The goal is to maintain a 400 fulltime equivalent (FTE)  enrollment, which is possible because four OASIS teachers have volunteered to work on “overload” to help serve as many students in need as possible.

Principal Kyle Freeman of the middle school and high school spoke of the success of the Buddy program, which pairs high school and middle school students with elementary students. The kids participate in activities together and the Buddy program will continue so that real bonds are forged between kids, which, in turn, will help create a friendlier, more inclusive climate at all of our schools. Freeman noted that each high school student is now expected to complete 5 hours of community service each semester, which they have embraced. In fact, OIHS students completed a whopping 600 hours + of community service in their first semester alone.

Apparently, staff were surprised by lower than expected PSAT (pre-Standard Achievement Test) scores by the 11th grade, however, Freeman and staff are working to understand potential causes and are contemplating introducing PSAT in earlier grades to ensure kids have more exposure to the test to help improve future class’ scores. PSAT scores also may not necessarily indicate actual SAT scores. Data was provided to show that 10th and 11th graders are meeting benchmark statistics and either meeting Washington State average results or outpacing the state.

Board member Greg White asked about the Highly Capable program figures. Highly Capable is Washington State’s term for Gifted and Talented Students. Freeman and Stanekvich were not aware of how many kids were identified in the recent push to seek nominations from parents because the deadline only recently passed.

Superintendent Webb shared the WSSDA 2017 Legislative Priorities and outlined work and activity around the Phase III Bond Project. To read an earlier Orcas Issues article about consensus on Phase III click here. According to Webb, ballots are going out a little later than expected. Calling to remind citizens to vote will now happen on February 6th.

The next Walk & Talk is scheduled for Monday January 30th from 3:30 to 5:30pm. This is a great chance for the community to tour the focus areas to really get a feel for why the bond project is so important to the success of our schools, staff and students. Webb also reported that enrollment numbers are remaining stable. On the staffing side, however, the district is now forced to fill a few upcoming vacant positions, including a new accounting clerk after receiving the resignation of Dali Cuthbert. Webb also spoke about leading the staff to focus on data-driven efforts and tracking results to see what’s working and what’s not working. He also mentioned that he would like to plan a celebration with staff to celebrate coming off the Washing State Priority schools list.

Webb also reported that a new task force has been created and will be named ORCAS P.A.C.T.. “P.A.C.T. is intended as a progressive parent, administration and community task force that will meet quarterly under the leadership of the OISD Superintendent to focus on maintaining and creating effective procedures and programs that address school culture and academics in order to create a safe and inspiring environment where all k-12 Orcas public school students can thrive personally and academically.”

Keith Whitaker reported that the district should be going into the 2017/18 school year with a good strong financial position. However, he did warn that the new state senate budget might challenge our district.

The only public comments were by a 6th grade parent, commending the board and staff for working to identify more Highly Capable students. The parent stated that it is her belief this will help stop “brain drain” she feels has been happening at our schools, ensure that these children get the “basic education” they need to meet the state requirements for them and ensure we nurture the most academically gifted students, who are one key to raising the bar for and inspiring all students k-12.

The next regular school board meeting is February 23rd at 5:30 in the school library. Parents, staff and community members always welcome.