NEWBERG SCHOOL DISTRICT 29J Regular Meeting, October 24, 2017 Newberg School District Board Room

MINUTES

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF PRESENT Bob Woodruff, Chair Dr. Kym LeBlanc-Esparza, Superintendent Mindy Allison Dave Parker, Assistant Superintendent Debbie Hawblitzel Ilean Clute, Director of Finance Ron Mock Dr. Derek Brown, Director of Data and Brandy Penner Assessment Todd Thomas (Virtual) Autumn Foster, Director of Communication Melinda Van Bossuyt (Virtual) Gregg Koskela, Board Secretary

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES Valeria Cosgrove Melina Pina Capri Wheaton

I. CALL TO ORDER A duly called and noticed Regular Board Meeting of the Board of Directors of Newberg School District 29J was called to order by Chair Woodruff at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 in the Newberg School District Board Room.

II. FLAG SALUTE The flag salute was led by Kellen Rayburn.

III. REVIEW AGENDA No changes to the printed agenda. Corrected copies of the Superintendent Evaluation timeline, Superintendent Goals and a handout for the Bond timeline were distributed.

IV. STUDENT & STAFF RECOGNITION: ANTONIA CRATER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL The following Crater students made presentations for our Board: Justice Chamberlain, Brayden Ferraro, Grace Gaunt, Isabella Holsti, Hayden Mead, and Kellen Rayburn. Each was given a certificate of recognition. Principal Michele Paton introduced the students, who are all 5th graders; this is Principal Paton’s first year in elementary, and she is loving it! Our school improvement plan is highlighting the five C’s. Our kids are learning that when you struggle, you learn. Mrs. Danielson’s 5th grade class is doing “Genius Hour”, so she brought six geniuses to share with the Board.

Genius Hour is a time in class to choose something interesting to the students, research it, and then present it to the class. These students have studied: being an NBA general manager, cheetahs, bad jokes, dogs, labradoodles, endangered species, how Bugatti engines work, and Alex Morgan (pro soccer player and author). Research comes from at least three different internet sources; they write a draft of the main ideas on a slide, and then keep refining. One of the big takeaways is that picking your own topic makes you want to learn more!

Principal Paton is using Genius Hour as part of her process to prepare students for the transition to middle school, a key emphasis for her this year.

V. PUBLIC COMMENTS

No public comments were given.

VI. CONSENT AGENDA

MOTION 32: Move that the Newberg School District Board of Directors approve the consent agenda as presented.

Moved: Mindy Allison; Second: Debbie Hawblitzel Motion passed 7-0

Approved minutes from the October 10, 2017 Regular Board Meeting. Approved Donation – Mark and Elizabeth Moisan, $500, NHS Integrated Design.

VII. BOARD AND SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS a. Board Comments: Director Mock: The meeting with the city council last week was useful, but it was disappointed that it was mainly one direction, with not a lot of input from us to the City Council. So we are probably not done. More dialogue about affordable housing would have been helpful, as it is a key need and there were not solid solutions presented. We have five governments: cities of Newberg and Dundee, the County, the US government, and CPRD. Each has a part to play. There was an article about chronic absenteeism from OSBA, showing that it increased. Newberg’s increased as well, but still a little better than the state. It’s discouraging, when it was an emphasis last year, to see another increase in absenteeism.

b. Superintendent Comments:

Dr. Kym LeBlanc-Esparza: We are in our sixth transition of state leadership in education since I’ve been here, with the recent State Superintendent change. Graduation rate has increased in that time frame, and Newberg has stayed ahead of the state average due to many people’s hard work; but there is still a lot of room to approve. Governor Kate Brown sent a letter to state education leadership, emphasizing her goals. I have great respect for outgoing State Superintendent Salam Noor, but I also have great respect for incoming Superintendent Colt Gill.

Graduation rate is a key goal for the state, and it should be: we’re in the bottom five nationwide. Governor Brown is also asking the legislative leadership to deal with funding, and I emphasize that key need.

Thank you to Ilean Clute, and the analysis she is giving to us. You’ll hear her report tonight. I’m grateful for the team work of our senior staff. Troy Fisher has been out on medical leave, and will return for half days starting Thursday. Stafford Boyd has been filling in at Mabel Rush.

I’m grateful to the Board members who gave the time to be at the work session with the city. I’ll say more candidly than Ron did, we need to host and structure the meeting next time to keep on task and give our input.

I’m out of the office next Monday and Tuesday with COSA. We’ll be getting direction from leaders from Apple and other key organizations.

A little over two weeks from now, we will go to the OSBA convention. Gregg Koskela will send out an email to arrange car pools and other arrangements. I have to be there Thursday all day and into the night, and Friday.

c. Student Representative Comments:

No comments tonight.

VIII. REPORTS & INFORMATION ITEMS a. Growth & Enrollment Report Dr. Derek Brown, Director of Assessment and Data Services, and Autumn Foster, Director of Communication, presented the data in a similar format to previous years.

First, a snapshot of enrollment on October 1 in 2016 and 2017. All are aware of the dip in enrollment this year. These slides show a comparison of actual enrollment year to year, which gives a little different picture than looking at actual this year vs. projected. Especially with Edwards, actual enrollment is up 23 students, but it’s almost 30 under projected enrollment. Enrollment was projected to be higher because of adding an additional grade level of dual language classes.

Looking at data over the last several years, it is easy to see the drop this year is very much out of the ordinary. Director Mock: There was a drop in 2011 similar to this; do any of the Board members at the time remember how it was addressed? Director Van Bossuyt: I remember it being connected to the continued recession. It was also unanticipated. Director Hawblitzel: I don’t remember having to make changes because of enrollment. Autumn Foster will look into the 2011 drop in enrollment.

Each school has capacity for growth. Student demographics are not showing dramatic changes from year to year, except for Free and Reduced Lunch, which increased another 2% and has been in a growth pattern for years. Projecting future enrollment, we can see from PSU’s research and other data that Newberg is projected to grow, but with a significant shift to an older population; so, we may not see a growth in student population. Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza highlighted the state funding issues this demographic change will bring about.

Director Allison: There’s a big decline in the outside numbers. Was that intentional? Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: The closing of Sitka is a big part of the change in numbers. Chair Woodruff: When we project our numbers for next year, what will we use? David Parker: We begin in March with census data as well as specific students and map out where they will go as they promote a grade. We forecast well for the students in our schools; kindergarten is the biggest challenge, because 30% of our students won’t enroll until a week before school begins. Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: In past years, we’ve had to be ready for increased enrollment with flexible teacher assignments; this has been a new problem. Director Penner: What about the comparison in numbers between last year’s graduating class and this year’s kindergarteners? Autumn Foster: We can get those numbers. Director Mock: Doing some rough figures, it looks like even with the change in percentage of young people, with the increase in population, it looks like by 2035 we still will increase to around 6500 students, using my probably faulty math.

b. Monthly Financials Ilene Clute, Director of Finance, presented the monthly financials and cash flow. Tonight’s report will cover a few key details. On page 35, you’ll see the board adopted budget is in the far left column, and then there is also a column which accounts for the reductions to the budget in August and September. This is just a comparison tool for the Board and for budget management. On the first report, it is just a point in time view, not a projection for the end of the year. In November new budget resolutions will be brought to the Board to adjust some of our budget appropriations.

On page 36 for grants and special revenue funds, there is a note so you can see the specific grants these are going for. The reason a negative balance shows is we are moving the Measure 98 funds out of the general fund; this will be cleaned up in the Budget Resolutions in November. Director Hawblitzel: The notes you’ve given are very helpful.

With the debt services funds on page 42 and 43, we are working to accurately reflect the tax credit we receive each year. This will lead to another Budget Appropriation resolution in November.

On the Cash Flow report, you will see detailed notes. This cash flow report anticipated full spending on all budgeted items. Right now, we are projecting a $150,000 ending fund balance, based on actual salaries. We are still carefully going over the budget to look for areas where savings in expenditures can be made, actively contacting budget administrators, updating expenses. Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: One of the greatest difficulties is budgeting for substitutes. We have changed to analyzing substitutes by building, rather than one big budget line, to track more carefully. The hope is with some of the changes in professional development there will be less expense in substitutes. Director Allison expressed great appreciation for the changes in the reports which are much clearer and very helpful. Chair Woodruff strongly agreed.

IX. NEW BUSINESS a. Superintendent Goals Dr. Kym LeBlanc-Esparza presented her goals for the 2017-18 school year. This year was really challenging to create; I tried to categorize the goals to help you better understand. Last year, the key word was empowerment of leaders and students. This year, data shows that stability is a key need. We need to learn what assets we have in the system and use them well.

21st Century Learning and Vision 2018 are still key goals for us, serving as a filter. We want to continue to increase our educators’ efficacy. The needs have never been higher; our students are increasingly at risk in many ways, impacting how they access learning. Classroom teachers face that every day, while facing the challenge of meeting the highest standards ever given for education.

• Stability of the System o Financially GOAL: Establish financial stability for the district by developing a 3 year plan to reach 5% EFB. Work with Board to develop a policy which designates fiscal policies and ending fund balance expectations. Establish new financial audit committee board oversight structure. Develop process for finance/business office and human resource monthly cross data analysis.

o Instructionally GOAL: Simplify the message around our instructional model, how we define the “Newberg way” of great instruction and what we expect of our instructional staff. Establish clear expectations of “transfer” of professional development through school improvement plan goals, teacher evaluation goals and principal evaluation goals. Take over leadership responsibility for leading the Instructional Facilitators. Reassign elementary teaching and learning to Director of Special Programs.

o Leadership GOAL: Strengthen leadership team throughout the district through reassignment of key leaders in schools with needs that matched leadership strengths and skill sets. Further, reassign senior staff roles and responsibilities to match experience and skill set. Assume responsibility for all leadership professional development through PLC structures.

• 21st Century Learning-Vision 2018 o Improve performance of English Language Learners (currently 7% meeting benchmarks) and Special Education (currently 15%) student populations by 50%, to 10.5% and 22% respectively. o Increase graduation rate by 3% to 85.3%. o Complete district roll-out of 1:1 technology with Newberg High School digital conversion. o Conduct comprehensive process of developing a Newberg School District Profile of a Graduate which involves extensive stakeholder input. (Director Mock: Will these be measurable? Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: Yes. My work with Ed 21 is exactly on these types of measurable goals, and how to create them.) o Continue to build staff competencies in 21st century teaching and learning through work of IF’s and senior staff work with schools. o Support principals & school site council teams’ use of data to drive goals and planning through Schoolzilla. • Educator Efficacy-Professional Development through Collaboration and Coaching • Continuous Improvement Cycle o Analyze and review student achievement trends with every school leader at the district level. Use data to drive Continuous Improvement Cycle. o Root cause analysis directed at the achievement gaps. o Focus on equity through ALL MEANS ALL messaging, poverty simulation and at risk summit. o Increase capacity for serving at-risk students. o Utilize School Improvement Plan process. o Implement new identification process for Gifted and Talented, distribute new handbook and offer parent education series. • Preparing for a Potential Bond in 2019 o Utilize OSBA and COSA training information to develop timeline to 2019- optimal bond timing. o Conduct formal facilities assessment and update long range facilities plan. Identify and designate bond citizen’s committee to conduct needs analysis. Use Spring of 2018 for committee to review LRFP and facilities assessment. Then committee will develop list of needs for every facility in the district and include long range facilities plan needs. Provide Board information needed to determine whether to issue Declaration of Intent to go for a bond. o Engage architect, structural engineer and project manager to develop specificity around scope of projects and potential cost. o Engage Bond company to provide Board adequate information on potential financial bond scenarios.

Director Mock: Weren’t principals moved last year? Is that this year’s goal? Answer: They didn’t start in their new roles until July 1, which makes it this year’s goal. Director Mock: Isn’t eliminating the achievement and growth gaps a long term goal? Do you have incremental marks you want to hit this year? Answer: We need improvement, period. I will have eliminating this gap as my goal until we achieve it. Director Mock: You mentioned some teachers trained in older models of education, and therefore the need for training. As Board members, we don’t see all of what is going on in the classroom. What assumptions are going on in the classrooms that are effecting performance negatively? How do we get a handle on improving those things? Answer: Teachers need to key on building relationships with students; teachers need to build a strong learning culture. These are related and key; relationships help the learning environment. Building leadership is key in helping our teachers find the balance between relationships and academic expectations. It’s collective responsibility, with daily feedback given. Director Van Bossuyt: We just received it tonight, and I think I’m ready to approve them, but I would like time to go over them. Could we wait to act upon them? Chair Woodruff: We will hold off on acting until the next meeting, giving time to give any feedback to Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza.

b. Adopt the Superintendent Evaluation Timeline Chair Woodruff presented for approval the timeline for the current 2017-18 school year evaluation of the Superintendent, which covers the 2016-17 school year goals and performance. A minor change was made to the version in the Board packet and distributed to Board members, moving year end Goals Progress from August to November.

MOTION 33: Move that the Newberg School District Board of Directors adopt the modified 2017-18 Superintendent Evaluation Timeline, as amended.

Moved: Mindy Allison; Second: Debbie Hawblitzel Motion passed 7-0

c. Adopt the Superintendent Evaluation Tool Chair Woodruff presented for approval the evaluation tool that has been developed for the current 2017-18 school year evaluation of the Superintendent, which covers the 2016-17 school year goals and performance. Director Mock: Is there any change from last year? Answer: Only the goals have been updated. Director Van Bossuyt stated she has looked at it carefully and it is just right.

MOTION 34: Move that the Newberg School District Board of Directors adopt the modified 2017-18 Superintendent Evaluation Tool.

Moved: Ron Mock; Second: Debbie Hawblitzel Motion passed 7-0

d. Initiation of Process for Proposed Bond Committees To begin the process of exploring a bond issue for 2019, the Board must direct the Superintendent to initiate the committee process. Chair Woodruff distributed a sheet with information about various committees used in the past, and other information. Director Van Bossuyt: Should it be a task force or a committee? Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: It looks like previously both have been used. Check the suggestions for members of the committee on the handout, and please do give input of other names and suggestions as we are just beginning the process. Chair Woodruff: The difference between a committee and task force is good to get specified. Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: The task force is the one that goes to the nitty gritty details of each building; the committee is the one that sets the overall vision and timeline for the process. Director Mock: Are these simultaneous? Answer: yes. Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: You asked last time about timing, and May 2019 looks like the right time. Autumn Foster: May is the right time, because the previous bond goes off the tax rolls in June. Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: Depending how much we ask for in the bond, and how long of a term, taxes could still go down. In looking at our past data, while our work up from the last meeting anticipated a 20 year bond, my recommendation is not to go that long given our needs. Director Allison: Should we have representatives from the Newberg Education Foundation? Answer: Claudia Stewart and Rick Rogers will both be on there. Director Thomas: We should have student representation, and that isn’t on the sheet. Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: You’re right, yes, we will have student representation. Director Mock: Do we need to do anything else tonight besides initiate the process? Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: No, because we need to have time to ask people if they are willing to serve, and then bring them back for your approval. Chair Woodruff: Are there any limitations for employees or other categories to participate on these committees? Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: Previously staff has been on these before, but I will ask OSBA for clarification. Director Van Bossuyt: It seems having some staff on the committee is important; union representation on the committee might also be very helpful.

MOTION 35: Move that the Newberg School District Board of Directors direct the Superintendent to initiate the committee process for a potential 2019 bond issue.

Moved: Debbie Hawblitzel; Second: Mindy Allison Motion passed 7-0

e. Proposed Bond Timelines Discussion As we explore issuing a bond in 2019, there are many pieces that need to come together. Chair Woodruff led a discussion on timelines for various parts of the process. Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza: On the handout you were given, you see a suggested timeline from OSBA. They are wide ranging timelines, but it should give you a general idea. We can put this as a tickler on future agendas to make sure we are hitting our marks.

X. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza went through the agenda items in the Board packet for future meetings. The document in your packet accurately reflects the process with two executive sessions for Superintendent Goals Progress. OSBA convention is between now and our next meeting. We will be looking at budget committee members at the next meeting, so be thinking about that; we will also have a human resources report from Dave Parker; movement toward profile of a graduate. . XI. ADJOURNMENT

No further matters appearing to come before the Board, Chair Woodruff adjourned the meeting at 9:11 pm.

Recorded by: Gregg Koskela

ATTEST: APPROVED:

Superintendent Board Chair