Shoreline School Board meeting January 11, 2016: Cascade K-8, Home Education Exchange to relocate

By Marianne Deal Stephens

Prior to the meeting, a reception honored the Directors of the Shoreline School Board as part of the statewide School Board Recognition Month. Members of the community stopped in to say hello and offer thanks to Debi Ehrlichman, Mike Jacobs, Dick Nicholson, Richard Potter, and David Wilson.

Consent Agenda
The evening’s ten-item consent agenda passed unanimously. Of note:

• Acceptance of several gifts:
• $6,391.34 raised by Echo Lake PTA’s Walk-a-Thon for class enrichment, school equipment and 6th grade camp; 
• $6,119. from Syre PTA for classroom grants, including “I Spy” Books for 1st grade and a Buddy Bench for the playground; 
• $11,954.42 from Shorewood PTSA for classroom grants, including a visiting Spanish Artist/ Musician and a band uniform. 
• Approval to extend the agreement with Puget Sound ESD for the Head Start Program housed at Meridian Park Elementary. Head Start is a federally funded program with an emphasis on social skill development and literacy.
• Approval of Extended Field Trips, for:
• Shorecrest and Shorewood Robotics students to Portland for NW Robotics Competition in April;
• Shorecrest Track Team to Pasco for Pasco Invitational Track Meet in April;
• Shorewood Leadership Students to Leadership Camp at Cispus Learning Center in Randle, Washington for Leadership Camp in August. 

Board President David Wilson publicly thanked Echo Lake, Syre, and Shorewood PTA chapters, saying that “these donations fill many needs and enrich our schools” and affirming that “the PTA is a tremendous partner”.

Observation of School Board Recognition Month
Referring to the Shoreline School Board, Superintendent Rebecca Miner asserted that

“there is no better example of a stellar, effective, and committed school board than here in Shoreline. We are extremely fortunate to have this group of individuals representing our educational community. Their insights, thoughtful decisions, and dedication to the cause of student achievement make them a truly outstanding Board.” 

Superintendent Miner presented certificates to Board Vice President Debi Ehrlichman and Board President David Wilson for ten years of service to the District.

January is School Board Recognition Month as proclaimed by Governor Jay Inslee. Superintendent Miner read the Governor’s Proclamation, which recognizes the State’s school directors as “outstanding volunteers and champions for public education” into the record.

First Reading of District Instructional Materials Committee (DIMC) Recommendations
Director of Teaching and Learning Teri Poff presented the committee’s recommendation that the district adopt the following materials, which teachers have requested and the committee has reviewed:

Social Studies Materials

The Creation of the U.S. Constitution by Michael Burgan, Capstone Press. 

Image: Amazon.com

These four books will be used primarily in SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observational Protocol for English Language Learners) History Classes: Young People’s History of the United States; Split History of Westward Expansion in the U.S.; The U.S. Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation; The Creation of the U.S. Constitution.  

Language Arts Materials
The film Bowling for Columbine will be used in Junior English classes at Shorewood as part of a project on American Culture examining how to construct an argument.

Director Dick Nicholson inquired about the “R” rating of the film. Dr. Poff explained that rating is due to violence in the form of raw footage of actual events and not from language. Because of the movie rating, parent permission would be required. Students who opt out would have an alternative assignment.

These materials are scheduled to be adopted at the next regular Board meeting on January 25. See the DIMC Recommendation for details.

Comments from the Community
Bill MacCully of the Shoreline Rotary Club informed the Board about a recent service effort. Since 1998, the club has taken 25 Shoreline elementary students on a shopping spree to J.C. Penney during the holiday season. This year, 52 club members and volunteers took 28 students to the Alderwood Mall J.C. Penney before the store opened. In an hour, the volunteers and students chose items along with the help of store employees, who had prepared goodie bags for each of the students. After shopping, the Rotary took the kids out for breakfast at McDonald’s. Mr. MacCully, who coordinated the event, described the looks on the kids’ faces as they are wearing new coats, and said “this is a heart project”.

Cascade K-8 Parent Sharon Tapia thanked the Board for the partnership the Cascade community shares with the District. She is looking forward to the school’s upcoming changes.

At the end of the community comment period, President David Wilson recognized a large group in the audience. Students in Senior Civics are often asked by their teachers to attend a community or municipal meeting. Approximately twenty students stood while President Wilson thanked them for attending.

Adoption of Revisions to Policies 3250
The Board approved revisions to Policy 3250, which regards the release of student information. District Information Officer Curtis Campbell explained that the changes align our policy with best practices by expanding the definition of ‘directory information’ to include images, video, and email addresses as well as more traditional elements of student information. See Revised Policy 3250.

Adoption of Policy 2021
Director of Teaching and Learning Teri Poff stated that the new policy “clearly states the purpose of our library media centers” and outlines processes for selection and reconsideration of materials. Policy 2021 was approved.

Approval of Preparation of Classrooms for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, and Relocation of Cascade K-8 Community School and Home Education Exchange to Aldercrest Elementary 

Deputy Superintendent Marla Miller introduced the long-awaited Classroom and Facility Planning Recommendation, which she described as the “culmination of many months of study”. Increasing enrollment and consideration of future measures to reduce class sizes led the District to undertake a study of long-term enrollment and a study of the condition of all of the district’s buildings, both in 2015.

Chrisy Francescutti, Director of Cascade K-8 Community School and Ron Jones, Program Coordinator for Home Education Exchange (HEE), joined the Deputy Superintendent to present the plan. The Cascade K-8 Community School and the Home Education Exchange will share the Aldercrest Campus owned by Shoreline School District. Mr. Jones thanked the Board, and said that HEE has enjoyed its time at North City. Ms. Francescutti described how Cascade K-8 is a “collaborate community” and she is excited to include “my staff, my students, and of course our wonderful parents” in the move. Both Mr. Jones and Ms. Francescuitti noted that they already work well together and, though they lead separate programs, the shared campus may lead to collaboration.

The Aldercrest Campus is currently occupied by Sound City Bible Church, and will be vacated by June 1, 2016. After June 1, the District will remodel the Aldercrest buildings over the summer, and the programs will begin the 2017-2018 school year in the new location.

Source:  Shoreline School District

Relocating Cascade K-8 to Aldercrest will free up some classrooms at Meridian Park Elementary, but the district will need more classrooms long-term. During the 2016-2017 school year, the District will remodel North City Elementary.

North City Elementary currently houses several preschool programs which received notice of lease termination several months ago. The preschools requested more time, and the District has changed the lease termination date to August 31, 2016 from June 1, 2016. Deputy Superintendent Miller mentioned that the District is talking with the preschools about the possibility of the programs leasing classrooms at Shoreline Center for a year while they look for permanent locations.

Source:  Shoreline School District

Deputy Superintendent Miller summarized the changes as follows: we are proposing the relocation of the two programs for 2016-2017, and the preparation of North City Elementary during 2016-2017 for the 2017-2018 school year. It is anticipated that North City would be ready for occupancy in August of 2017. 

Superintendent Miner has asked the staff, as part of the District’s continued review, to consider grade configurations as part of the larger picture. There is a possibility that configurations of K-5 and 6-8 would serve needs better than the current K-6 and 7-8 model.

The District will continue to monitor enrollment and buildings, and will consider the possibility of a February 2017 bond issue if the District determines that new building projects are needed. If a bond measure is called for, the District would need to ask for Board approval by June 2016.

When the Board unanimously approved the proposal, applause broke out in the meeting room. Staff and parents involved with Cascade K-8, the Home Education Exchange, and the various preschools appear to be pleased with the District plan. 

Board Reports and Communications

Director Richard Potter helped out with the Holiday Baskets event at Kellogg, watched the Fire Department do some training in the District, and caught another concert, which he always enjoys.

Dick Nicholson continues to lead KCDA as its President, and noted that the cooperative purchasing organization “established a record” in 2015 and has had “tremendous growth.”

Debi Ehrlichman went to the Girls’ Basketball game at Shorecrest last week, which was on the evening of “a difficult day” [when Shorecrest was evacuated due to a bomb threat]. She mentioned that Shorecrest staff and students and District communications and transportation staff handled the event very well.

Director Ehrlichman drew attention to the many Martin Luther King, Jr. Assemblies coming up and to Kinderfest, which is coming up on January 23 for the Class of 2029.

David Wilson praised the winter concerts, and mentioned the impressive finale of the Shorewood-Einstein Winter Concert with 125 students on stage. He also noted that the Power of One program, which places senior citizens in Shoreline Schools, was chosen as the Best Volunteer Program of the Year by the North Urban Human Services Alliance [see previous article].

Several directors attended the PTA Reflections Celebration on January 7 and complimented our student artists. [See previous story]