Shoreline School Board Meeting Summary October 12, 2015

Board members discussed the Shorewood homecoming
Photo by Paul Villanueva

By Marianne Deal Stephens

Consent Agenda

The Board approved several items, including:

• Authority to Issue Notice of Recapture of Leased Property. The District will provide official notice to tenants of Aldercrest and North City facilities regarding plans to use the space for school purposes.
• Project Authority for Chemistry Wing Floor Replacement Project at Shorewood High School
• Collective Bargaining Agreement with SEIU Local 925, Transportation Employees
• Extended Field trips for: High School DECA Leaders to Downtown Seattle Sheraton in October; Shorewood UW Geology classes on 14th annual trip to Eastern Washington in November; Shorewood Orchestras to Northwest Orchestra Festival in March. 

New Director of Equity and Engagement

Executive Director of Schools Brian Schultz introduced Tanisha Brandon-Felder, Ed.D., the new Director of Equity and Family Engagement. Dr. Brandon-Felder has already begun her work in Shoreline leading efforts to boost equity throughout the District. She is a former Seattle Public Schools teacher, and a co-founder of The Race Forum: a safe space designed to have conversations about race.

Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSA)

 
Director of Teaching and Learning Teri Poff introduced several of the many Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs) in the District. These teachers have partial or full non-classroom assignments “to continuously improve student learning and teacher professional practice”. The District has expanded the role of music specialists, and now has an art specialist. Each TOSA has several projects for 2015-2016; the list below mentions only one for each specialist.

Elementary TOSAs

• Lisa Levy, Literacy: implementation of SuperKids and Wonders reading programs. 
• Becki Frisk, Math Specialist: focus on student collaboration around problem-based learning.
• Stephanie Smolen, Science: promote understanding of the Next Generation Science and Engineering Standards

Secondary TOSAs

• Jennifer Etter, Literacy: focus on writing instruction and best practices.
• Patty Gehlicher, Math: use research-based practices to close the achievement gap.
• Lisa Chen, Science: let students look at real-world problems.
• Siri Hulbert, World Languages: commit to utilize the language in the classroom so students can function in the language.

K-12 TOSAs

• Robin Dowdy, Social Studies: introduce Since Time Immemorial http://www.indian-ed.org/ native curriculum to middle school. 
• Leann Rozema, Music: ensure that every individual in large musical groups is growing. 
• Laura King, Visual Arts: start to develop an aligned K-12 visual arts program. 

Technology TOSAs

• Jackie Hubbard, Collaboration: lead a committee to determine the best online gradebook for secondary teachers.
• Frank Kleyn, Curation: increase access to and increase proficiency with tools like Google Apps for Education.
• Paul Witzel, Creation: help 3rd graders make digital storybooks with images, audio, and video.

Other TOSA Assignments

• Melissa Sargent, ELL: increase awareness of communication with multilingual families. 
• Peggy Thesing, Special Education: align the special education core curriculum to meet the needs of students.
• Kye Hong, District Behavior Support: create a culture of proactive behavior support using “Think Positive, Proactive and Preventative” guideline. 
• Mary Walters, District Autism/ Behavior Support: provide professional development in areas of autism, behavior supports and response, and coaching. 

Comments from the Community

• Seven speakers addressed the District’s plans to change the use of the Aldercrest and North City buildings, where preschools and other programs currently rent space. Most of the speakers asked that the District delay the plans. 
• Mary Kirchoff, the Executive Director of Wonderland in the North City building requested that the program be involved in district planning. Wonderland serves 65 developmentally delayed young children (ages 0-3), who “are Shoreline School District children.” 
• Gillian Murphy, Shorenorth parent and board member, described how Shorenorth has provided advice and support for her whole family, and emphasized that “these places build stronger, safer communities.”
• Cathy Childs, Director of North City Cooperative Preschool, drew attention to the 40-year relationship between the preschool and the District, and said North City Coop “would like to continue helping your get children ready for school.” She asked that the District reconsider the timeline and explore options other than relocation of the preschools. 
• Jessica Gesinger, Shoreline Cooperative Preschool teacher and co-director and Shoreline School District parent, explained the role of preschools in developing ‘soft’ skills necessary for school success, saying “we hope to continue what we do … we need a home … we thank you for reconsidering the proposed timeline.” 

Board Reports and Communications

• Director Richard Potter is currently in the midst of visiting all of Shoreline’s schools. He had visited three schools and planned to visit two more on October 13. 
• Director Debi Ehrlichman attended the Shorewood Homecoming Assembly along with Superintendent Rebecca Miner, Board President Mike Jacobs, and District Information Officer Curtis Campbell. She also related how Lake Forest Park Rotarians were recently “blown away” by the quality of a breakfast made by Shorecrest Culinary Arts students.
• Director David Wilson attended the October 6 session of the State Senate Listening Tour in Everett (see King 5 story). He said that the legislature “has a large mess to clear up” since the lack of funding has been going on for 40 years.
• Areeya Tipyasothi, Student Representative to the Board, reported that Shorewood recently celebrated Homecoming. When asked by Board President Mike Jacobs, Areeya relayed that Shorewood students complained about the stronger enforcement of rules about appropriate dancing during the Homecoming dance on Saturday night.
• President Mike Jacobs mentioned the many Homecoming activities, and that he has gotten a lot of feedback about the new rules being enforced at Shorewood.