by Staff Writer
On June 7, all five Highline School Board Directors were present as they laid the groundwork for the Tyee and Evergreen High Schools rebuild projects and Highline’s new Strategic Plan. The main items up for a vote included the adoption of the 2023-26 Strategic Plan Goals, renaming of Policy 9000 to include “Equity,” i-Ready Assessment Tool, and Accepting Port of Seattle funds ($250,000) to help at Maritime HS.
Here are links to the Agenda, Recording, Transcript, and Minutes for that meeting.
Four items were moved to the consent agenda; this included approval of $966,127.50 for new ZBook Laptops for Raisbeck Aviation HS.
The Board recognized Community Partner World Vision. Nikki Fogerty, manager, shared briefly.
Public testimony began with several community members who seriously questioned Policy 9000 and the Strategic Plan. Others commented on capital projects.
Notably, only five (5) of the eighteen (18) speakers scheduled to speak about Community Workforce Agreements (CWA) bothered to appear. “No Shows” included an apprenticeship program executive director, several union business reps, and community union organizers.
Director Van read over a dozen names before reaching a student at the bottom of the 11-person “wait list .” Abdimalik Mohamed was a well-spoken young man who described the importance of Boys’ Volleyball and asked Highline to support this program.
Currently, the Board allows for 20 speakers and a waiting list. Agenda-related topics currently prioritize presenters and are not restricted to the local Highline community.
During Superintendent Duran’s updates, he invited Melanie Bowman (Teamsters Local 763) to share briefly. Then he re-introduced Nikki Fogerty, who introduced four students from the Superintendent Student Leadership team who shared their thoughts on the Strategic Plan. They were aligned and supportive, as each of the four spoke about the individual Plan Goals.
Directors gave their end-of-year highlights.
Consent Agenda was unanimously approved.
Action Items: All approved
- 2023-26 Strategic Plan Goals – unanimous
- i-Ready Assessment Tool – unanimous
- Port of Seattle fund acceptance for Maritime HS – unanimous
- Policy 9000 to include “Equity” – approved four-one. Director Hagos, nay
Introduction Items: (See attached Minutes for links)
- 2023-24 Budget. (Recording & Supporting Materials)
- Open Doors 1418 Program Funding (total $1,529.000 for three contracts)
- Curriculum Adoptions for Math, Music, Science
- Revise Policy 2420 to include the “D” grade
- Evergreen Replacement Project – Contractor price increase
Policy 2420 revision was moved to June 21 meeting Consent Agenda.
At 8:08 pm, the Directors recessed into executive session to “review the performance of a public employee.” They adjourned at 9:56 pm.
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Directors’ Retreat on June 9 (Directors Garcia, Alvarez, and Howell attended; Directors Van and Hagos absent) was held from 9 am-3 pm; it was open to the public. (Recording) Followed by an 80-minute Executive Session “to receive and evaluate complaints or charges brought against a director or staff member.”
Of note, the Highline Directors had several non-public Executive Sessions this past month, and two more scheduled June 21:
- May 31 – “Reviewing the performance of a public employee” (nearly 3 hours)
- June 7 – “Review the performance of a public employee” (nearly 2 hours)
- June 9 – “To receive and evaluate complaints or charges brought against a director or staff member” (post-Board Retreat)
- June 21 – “To review the performance of a public employee” (pre-board-meeting, 4:30 pm)
- June 21 – “To receive and evaluate complaints or charges brought against a director or staff member” (post-board-meeting)
