School District Business and Operations

By Marianne Deal Stephens

The Latest from Business and Operations in the Shoreline School District

On June 1st, Deputy Superintendent Marla Miller and the directors of five District divisions under her offered updates. 

Feeding Students

Jessica Finger, Director of Food and Nutrition Services, described how participation is rebounding following a decrease attributed to government guidelines’ effect on district menus. Student stores have also been affected by the regulations. 

Image courtesy Shoreline Schools

Note:  HHFKA is the Health Hunger-Free Kids Act which regulated 

the ingredients and offerings in the National School 

Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.

Significant developments in food service in the past year:

• 11 new salad bars financed by a grant from the Whole Foods Foundation
• consumption of fruit and vegetables has increased at all school levels
• online payment now available for school meals
• breakfast added to 3 sites; all schools now offer breakfast
• vegan and Halal options are being added
• District Wellness Council being organized; membership includes athletics, PTSA, parents, administrators

Image courtesy Shoreline Schools

Transporting Students

Director of Transportation Mary Sherman described how the district transports an average of 5657 students every day with 414 daily runs: 146 morning, 97 midday, 147 afternoon, 24 after school. The “after school” runs include college transition, IEP-driven physical therapy, activity, sports practices, and homework club. In the past year, the district has switched from contracting out for vehicle maintenance to doing the work in-house. Current projects: the garage is being altered to better accommodate 84 buses; new buses may be longer to carry more students; a class to train bus drivers has begun; the shortage of substitute bus drivers is a problem nationwide. For more information, see the District Transportation page. 

Maintaining Buildings and Grounds

Bruce Camp, Director of Maintenance and Operations, oversees the maintenance and custodial care of grounds and buildings, including tasks like ensuring science classrooms comply with chemical hygiene procedures. In the past year, his office has processed 4280 work orders and completed 4170 of them. Cases of graffiti and vandalism have decreased due to after-hours security and timely graffiti removal. 

Director Camp discussed the maintenance of the new high schools and showed a video demonstrating equipment: backpack vacuums make cleanups quicker; “chariot” autoscrubbers clean, squeege, and polish floors, cutting out drying time; and touchless cleaners combine sprayers and wet/dry vacs to streamline bathroom maintenance. The larger custodial equipment for the high schools came out of capital funding since the equipment is necessary to maintain the new buildings. He noted that the new high schools are easy to clean: the polished concrete floors are versatile and don’t require high maintenance steps, and the multi-level design means that most of the debris and wear is confined to the main floors.

Director Camp also oversees the recycling and composting efforts at the schools, which have largely depended on the motivation of students at each school. He mentioned Carson Thomas at Shorewood who has been the force behind the high school’s successful recycling and food waste procedures. 

Hiring and Supporting Employees

Director of Human ResourcesTam Osborne described how the HR department oversees hiring, compensation, labor law compliance, and other procedures involving employees. The substitute teacher pool is run by HR, and the district currently has a substitute shortage, as do many school districts. The district is adopting an electronic application system which will go live in November 2015. Overall, applications for open positions were up, yet that did not reflect an increase in minority applicants. The district would like to “attract and hire a diverse workforce that is more reflective of our student and school commmunity” and will continue to advertise and seek assistance in attracting candidates. When asked if he visits universities seeking applicants, Director Osborne replied at this year he “hit the jackpot” at Seattle University with a few school psychologists. 

Keeping Track of Everything

Director of Finance and Business Services Mark Spangenberg, referring to the video demonstration of cleaning equipment, offered a tongue-in-cheek apology for not bringing a video of people doing accounting. Director Spangenberg comes before the Board once a month to present the monthly balance sheet. He noted that in the past year the district was 7th in the state for local revenues as a percentage. The Children’s Center provides a significant portion of this local revenue. Recent efficiencies include: online food service payments; Brown Paper Ticket service for some performing arts events; altered processing of payment for substitutes. 

District Organization

To get an idea of how the Shoreline School District is organized, see the District Office Organizational Chart.