January 4, 2023

This was a work/study meeting for informal board discussion after the regular Public Comment portion of the meeting.  There was a problem with the camera in the board room that impacted the Zoom recording of the meeting.  Apparently, the audio was working but not the camera in the room.

The majority of the meeting was occupied with a presentation by Lee Fenton of the District's Bond Steering Committee.  Click here for the PDF of his presentation.

There followed a discussion of the Facilities Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee.  Director Berg argued it was intended to be a permanent committee and not be dissolved with each bond cycle.  The majority of the board was of the opinion that the committee did a great work in making their recommendations and should be dissolved until needed again.  Final action will be taken at the January 18th meeting.

The last discussion of the evening was on the board auditing committee.  Director Daily objected to the fact that the Director Berg's draft for the Goverence Culture Policy CG-5, originally considered last March and postponed, was subsequently referred for comment to the District's legal counsel by Board President Wilson without first getting the permission of the Board.  Director Daily expressed the opinion that the Board should act as one and nothing should be referred to the district's legal counsel without a vote from the board.  Director Berg suggested that he should propose a policy to that effect if that was his opinion.  His response was "We don't' need more policies ... We don't follow them anyway."

Director Daily repeated his claim that he alone is functioning as the board auditing committee when he reviews documents in the District offices on the Tuesday morning before regular Board meetings.  He claims that he is the only member of the Board coming to those meetings.  Click here for Director Berg's extended comments on these claims.  

The tone of the meeting deteriorated further when Director Daily insisted upon asking questions and then not allowing the other member to respond without his interrupting with his preferred answer, and when he started calling other Board members derogatory names.

Referring his actions to an interrogation, Director Daily insisted that Director Berg read what the law said on the auditing committee.  Director Berg responded that he would if Director Daily would mute his microphone and allow Director Berg to do so without interruption. Director Berg began to read, only to be interrupted again by Director Daily.   Director Daily said that he would not be muted, saying, "You can't mute me, Slick.".  The entire discussion begins at 2:29 on the recording of the meeting.

There are two statutes that refer to the board auditing committee:  RCW 28A.330.080 and 28A.330.090.  Director Berg began to read from section 080 and Director Daily interrupted and would not allow Director Berg to continue, stating that that wasn't the law.  (Apparently, Director Daily only wanted section 090 to be read, while Director Berg prefers that laws not be read out of context and wanted to read both sections.  Copies of both sections had been distributed to all Board members prior to the meeting.)

The decorum of the meeting deteriorated so badly that the meeting was adjourned shortly before at 7:51 p.m.

The matter of board committees will be on the agenda at the next meeting.

Rather the opening the Board meeting with the normal Pledge of Allegiance, the Board had students from South Kitsap High School perform the National Anthem.  They also followed with another musical number.

It was School Board Appreciation Month, with a proclamation from the governor and tokens of appreciation presented to the Board members from students and the four unions representing District employees.

Four individuals addressed the Board during Public Comment with various remarks.

Rather than make appointments to the Board's Facility Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee, which action was postponed from the December 21, 2022, meeting, the Board voted by resolution to discharge the committee.  Director Berg was the sole dissenting vote.

The Board then had a lengthy discussion of the other two committees, the Instructional Materials Committee (IMC) and the Board Auditing Committee.  Director Daily moved to remove the parent representatives from the IMC committee but his motion was defeated 1-4.  There were two competing drafts for the GC-5 policy.  They were reconciled by the Board's removing the markups from Director Wilson's version so that it matched Director Berg's version but without the Facilities Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee.  Director Daily argued that the provisions on the Auditing Committee did not meet the legal requirements in the Statute and the Washington Administrative Code, but he did not propose any alternative wording.  The amended GC-5 policy was adopted  with Director Daily being the sole dissenting vote.

The Board then amended policy GC-4 on Officers Roles to add an eighth duty for the Board President as follows:  "Be the Board's point of contact with the Board's legal counsel.  No other Board member may incur cost to the District by initiating a consultation with the Board's legal counsel without either going through the Board President or first obtaining the approval of the Board."  director Daily was the sole dissenting vote.

Superintendent reported on a revised policy on change orders, and bond planning update.

The budget status report was presented by Assistant Superintendent Hunsaker and Derry Lyons reported on Information Technology Services.

The Board approved the Superintendent's report on Rsulsts 5 - Community with Director Daily abstaining.  The Board approved th Superintendent's Operational Expectation OE-9 on communicating with the public with Director Daily voting no.

The Superintendent's Consent Agenda and Board Consent Agenda were both adopted with Director Daily voting no on the first and abstaining on the second.

The meeting concluded with a 20-minute executive session to evaluate the Superintendent.  This was the first executive session that Director attended in many months.

Director Daily abstained on the vote to adopt the agenda.

Nine people addressed the Board during the Public Comment portion of the meeting ,at least three of whom addressed Social Emotional Learning.

The Superintendent announced two public forums on the District's planned improvements and potential bond, an online forum Saturday, February 25, at 10:00 a.m, and a second one in person on Monday, February 27.

There was an extensive presentation and discussion on the budget and the need to reduce the budget substantially for the 2023-2024 school year. The exact level of reductions needed will become more clear after the State Legislature adjdourns.

There was a 40-mnute presentation and discussion on student acheivement scores.

The Board approved the monitoring report on Results 5 - Community, with Director Daily abstaining.  The Board approved the Operational Expectation 7 - Asset Protection, with Director Daly voting no.

Director Berg proposed, and the Board agreed to have a report from the Superintendent at the next meeting on Social Emotional Learning in the SK District.

The Superintendent's Consent agenda was adopted with Director Daily voting no, and the Board Consent agenda was adopted with Director Daily abstaining.

For the first time in many months, the agenda for the meeting was adopted unanimously.

Seven individuals addressed the Board during the public comment section, and many voiced complaints about the Board, its members, and the Superintendent.  When Director Berg spoke later in the meeting about the accusations made, he stated that holding up one's cell phone with the evidence of some event does the Board members no good becausse there are no specifics or source documents provided.  He asked that those complaining about an incident email him with details and that three minutes before the Board covering multiple topics does not provide any detail that is useful for the Board members to address.

There will be two public forums for asking questions about the planning for bonds to come before the voters.  The first will be via Zoom Saturday morning, February 25, at 10:00 a.m.  The second will be in person at the District Headquarters on Monday, February 27, at 6:00 p.m.

The District's Threat Assessment Coordinator presented information on the program to keep the school safe from violence.

There was an extensive presentation on the Career and Technical Education (CTR) programs, followed by budget presentations.  The District is not in a "budget crisis" as has been mentioned in the community.  There was additional Federal Funding related to COVID, known as ESSER funds, available to the district.  It was known that this money would run out after the current 2022-2023 school year, and that enrollment declines (typical throughout the state in public schools) would require cutbacks for the 2023-2024 school year.  This was anticipated and does not constitute a "crisis".  The District is not in danger or running out of money in the foreseeable future.

The Board had a discussion on how much authority to speak for the Board is granted to our legislative representative, Director Espy.  Director Daily insisted that she could not speak for the Board on any legislation without specific authorization through Board resolution.  Director Berg stated that in the five years that he has been attending Board meetings, that has never been done. He added that when the Board elected Director Espy as its Legislative Representative last December, it authorized her so speak for the Board.  Director Daily introduced a motion to limit her authority, which was defeated by a vote of one to four.

The Board approved the membership of the Instructional Materials Committee, with Director Daily abstaining.  The Board voted to authorize its President to sign certificates of appreciation to the former members of the Facility Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee, with Director Daily abstaining.  The Board voted to reschedule a report on OE-12 - Facilities until April 19, 2023, with Director Daily abstaining.

During the linkages reports, during which each members has three minutes to report on their work and relations with the community, Director Wilson sought to clarify his role in speaking to the press regarding a letter he sent to Director Daily.  Director interrupted and objected to his discussing the matter.  Click here to see the letter in question and the circumstances surrounding it.

Director Daily voted no on the Superintendent's Consent Agenda (which contains payroll and expenditure approvals), and was ruled out of order when he interrupted and insisted on debating it after the vote has been taken.  (By Board policy, the consent agendas are undebatable unless two board members wish to have an item taken off for separate debate and consideration.)  He abstained on the Board Consent Agenda (which consisted only of approval of minutes of the previous meeting).

Director Daily left the meeting before its adjournment.

Director Berg was out-of-town and participated in the meeting via Zoom.

Eight individuals addressed the Board during Public Comment.  Much of the comment related to the District Policy of maintaining student confidentiality in the school records, which included not sharing with parents their child's gender identity at school without the permission of the student.

The Board discussed the format of future meetings, including the use of work/study meetings to focus on specific issues in greater depth.

The Board also decided to have a discussion at the April 19 meeting balancing the school calendar.  This would involve expanding breaks during the year and shortening the summer break. Click here for more on that topic from Director Berg.  Director Berg introduced the topic at the meeting.

Director Daily voted no on the Superintendent's Consent Agenda (which included approving payroll and personnel matters) and abstained on the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting.  It was unclear how Director Daily voted on the approval of Operational Expectations (OE-8) interpretations and indicatiors of compliance.  When the negative vote was called for by "saying no and raising your hand", Director Daily was silent but appeared to have his hand slightly raised.

The meeting adjourned at 7:52 p.m.

Director Daily abstained on the adoption of the agenda, which was amended at the request of Directors Berg and Espy, to address the minutes of the previous meeting.  (Minutes are typically on the Board Consent Agenda which is voted upon without debate unless two members which to take it off the consent agenda for separate consideration.  The Superintendent's  Consent Agenda is similarly addressed without debate unless two members request otherwise.) 

Superintendent Winter announced a change in District policy on the confidentiality of health and educational records to delete "the student's parents and" from the original sentence in Procedure 3211P, which originally read "Therefore, to endure the safety and well-being of the student, school employees should not disclose a student's transgender or gender-expansive status to others, including the student's parents and/or other school personnel, unless the school is (1) legally required to do so or (2) the student has authorized such disclosure."  The full policy, as now amended, can be found here.

Thirteen individuals address the Board during Public Comment.  The most prevalent theme was again the confidentiality of school records (which one characterized as the schools encouraging students to lie to their parents), followed by Critical Race Theory and Social-Emotional Learning.  One comment concluded with "God bless Mr. Daily".  For Director Berg's comments on Critical Race Theory, click here.

Director Daily voted no on the approval of the Superintendent's report on Operational Expectation OE-8 regarding the Superintendent's communicating with the Board. He also voted against the Superintendent's Consent Agenda. 

The minutes of the previous meeting were corrected to reflect the fact that the Board did not come to a definite decision regarding scheduling of work/study meetings.

There was only one regular board meeting in April (due to Spring break the first week).  The April 19th meeting ran nearly four hours,, from 5:00 p.m to  8:53 p.m.

Director Daily voted against adopting the meeting agenda.  Ther wass43 minutes of public comment from about 17 people.

The Board adopted three budget amendments, with Director Daily abstaining.  These amendment were allow expenditure of funds originally budgeted for the prior year but which were not actually expended due to delays in the projects of billing from the vendors, purchasing busses with additional funds received from the state which were included in the original budget, and to amend the debt service budget for the funding of the chiller replacement at the high school which was previously adopted by the board.

Potential variations of future school year calendars was briefly discussed.  These modifications would involve shortening the summer break and putting more breaks in during the school year, without modification of the 180-day school year.

Modifications of the board meeting was discussed.  It was decided to have a special meeting on May 10th to discuss a reduced educational program, and to include a public hearing on the proposed bond at the May 17th meeting.

The Superintendent's Consent Agenda was adopted (which included approval for payrolls and other expenses) was adopted with Director Daily voting no.  One item removed from the consent agendas and considered separately (at the request of Directors Daily and Berg) related to the contract for the Culinary Classroom Renovation project contract,  It was adopted with Director Daily voting no.  The concern was that the contractor, Christianson, Inc., was the same contractor used for the pool renovation and science classrooms renovations, both of which ran over budget.  It was pointed out that the projects ran over budget for reasons other than the fault of the contractors.

The Board Consent Agenda, consisting only of the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting, was approved with Director Daily voting no.

Director Daily has consistently voted against adopting matters on a consent agenda.  He has previously stated that he objects to the consent agenda matters being undebatable (although they can be debated at the request of two board members, as was done at this meeting).  He has also expressed the opinion that such consent agendas must be adopted unaniously (which would give him veto power over all payrolls.)  Click here for an explanation of the difference between unanimous consent and consent agenda.

This regular meeting was shorter than typical, adjourning at 6:38 p.m.

About fourteen people addressed the Board during public comment.

 The Superintendent's Interpretation and proposed indicators of compliance for Operational Expectation 10:   Learning Environment and Student Discipline was approved as reasonable, with Director Daily voting no.

Director Berg reported that he attended the annual conference of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) in Orlando, paying for his own transportation, lodging, and registration, and she presented a break-out session on parliamentary procedure. 

Director Daily voted no on the Superintendent's Consent Agenda (which included approval for payrolls and other expenses), and abstained on the adoption of the Board Consent Agenda consisting of the minutes of the previous meeting.

This  a special meeting was held at Marcus Whitman Middle School to consider a resolutions for a reduced educational program (budget cuts and potential reductions in staff.)  There was public comment taken in person but the meeting was not streamed live, not was there a video recording of the meeting.  (The systems for recording video of meetings is available in the regular board room, but was not readily available at the middle school.)

There was over an hour of public comment on the proposed staff reductions.  The board amended the resolution by restoring (or not cutting) the nursing staff by 2 and the credit recovery position by 1.  The originally proposed maximum reductions was 55.52 full-time equivalent positions (FTE).  Director Daily argued that the District has "300 extra people" that should be cut, echoing his statement from the previous meeting that the District should reduce staffing levels to that fufnded by the state and not fund any additional positions with local levy money.  He voted against the resolution as amended.

While this was a regular meeting, there was an additional public comment section devoted to a proposed school construction bond for the Nobember ballot.  Following a brief presentation on the proposal, about nine individuals addressed the Board, mostly in favor of the proposed bond.  Dduring the regular public comment period, about nine people addresssed the Board, some of whom also spoke earlier.

The Board adopted a proclamation regarding Certificated Staff Appreciation Week, with Director Daily abstaining.  A bid for the purchase of daily products, postponed from the previous meeting was approved.  A discussion of a balanced academic calendar (spreading out the 180 instruction days throughout the years with a shorter summer vacation) was scheduled for the June 7th meeting.

The Superintendent's Interpretation and Proposed Indications of Compliance for Operational Expectation 11 - Instruction Program was approved with Director Daily voting no.

The Superintendent's Consent agenda (including the approval of payrolls, personnel changed, and the recommendations of the Instructional Materials Committee) was adopted, with Director Daily voting no.  The Board Consent agenda (consisting of the approval of prior minutes) was approved with Director Daily abstaining.

At the end of the regular meeting  a 20-minute executive session was held to review the performance of a public employee.  Director Daily did not attend the executive session.

The agenda has not yet been established.  There is schedueld a discussion of a balanced academic calendar (spreading out the 180 instruction days throughout the years with a shorter summer vacation).  

The agenda has not yet been established.