Submitted by John Arbeeny.
I just finished reviewing 123 Clover Park School Board minutes from 2016 through 2021. My conclusions are based upon what typically appears to be condensed minutes which do not have a lot of detail. On significant issues, such as school reports, equity, accountability, etc. the communication appears primarily in one direction, from Superintendent and staff to Board.
Indeed it is the Superintendent who addresses the Board first in their meetings not the other way round. Thereafter there were few if any relevant Board comments to address the Superintendent’s remarks. Rather, Board comments typically were about mundane events such as personal visits, contacts, congratulations, etc. which had no bearing on substantive issues. Debate of any kind is seldom heard.
I could not find a single agenda item that specifically dealt with the District’s overall academic performance; not one! There were periodic “School Reports” of various high, middle and elementary schools: a total of 18 schools in 116 Board meetings typically clumped together at irregular intervals. These School Reports occurred on average about once a Quarter with none occurring after March 2020……….over a year and a half!
Unfortunately, these school reports tended to focus on issues like military dependent students, mobility, free lunch, diversity and a smattering of certain successful “micro” subject areas without addressing the macro status academically. I didn’t see any comparison to other like schools in the State or the District’s academic standing in the State. Spaced apart as they were, these school reports lost any continuity in framing the District’s status academically; a case of being unable to see the forest for the trees.
On the few occasions that the Board was involved in a “program” there was little hard data to determine whether it was warranted, was effective and how so measured. There was little to no attribution of positions taken by Board members in forming policy. This may be a limitation of the minutes especially during working sessions.
I found only two State assessment results (2016, 2017) discussions but none thereafter. I assume that these are the same annual assessments made by OSPI yet in neither case were the results actually discussed or shown in the minutes. Perhaps this is a case of “no news is good news” as the District’s academic performance at that time had already been rather mediocre.
An “accountability plan” was mentioned 4 times but there was no data provided on accountability criteria, metrics for measurement, progress or decline. It appears that the accountability plan was more administrative than an actual accounting of the District’s success of failure academically. I did not see any actual annual accountability plan data presented to the Board for its review. I’m not sure how you can hold anyone, Board member or Superintendent or staff, accountable without producing that data.
The Board’s evaluation process was brought up once in 2020 as the self ranking of individual board members, other board members and the Superintendent. This appears more like a personality contest as there was no mention of ranking based upon District academic progress or failure. This appears to be something of a mutual admiration society rather than based upon the District’s actual academic progress.
I did not see any substantive Board generated policy or even discussion of Administration “recommended” policy to the Board. Policy issues were developed by the Administration and then presented to the Board for their vote as an already accomplished fact. A perfect example of the “cart before the horse” is the implementation of the Superintendent’s “Equity Policy” over the last two years with the scheduled Board approval of that policy on 13 September 2021! It makes one wonder why we have or even need a Board.
It is the Board that is supposed to “propose” policy and accountability and the Superintendent who is supposed to implement those Board proposals. But that’s not happening. I don’t recall any up or down vote by the Board to actually formulate policy or any real substantive Board discussion of policy. This may be a defect in the minutes but I’d expect a formal vote on everything brought before the Board. It didn’t happen.
The most common occurrence of a Board motion, second and vote was to accept minutes of previous Board meetings, approval of consent agenda and individual items which are mostly administrative in nature, and to adjourn. The one glaring exception to this rule occurred on12 September 2016 when the Board voted 3-0 with one abstention (Wagemann) to approve a DRAFT teachers union contract without ever having received a copy or having taking the opportunity to read it! It must be nice to have union representation on the Board!
These minutes reveal first and foremost that the Superintendent is the one leading the District from the front and the Board just tagging along for the ride. The Board is “leading from behind” instead of up front by not providing the policy and accountability leadership which are the primary roles for which Board members are elected. Rather, the Superintendent, a hired employee, is doing the job of the Board, our erstwhile elected representatives. This has to change and this election gives you that opportunity.
The incumbent Board members, Schafer and Pearson seeking re-election have failed in that leadership role so it is no surprise that the District itself has sunk to the bottom third academically in the State. Want to change this dynamic? Re-electing the same incumbents and expecting a change in results is the definition of insanity. David Anderson and Jeff Brown offer a very different perspective of leading from the front which is absolutely necessary to turn this “ship of education” around and head it towards the academic excellence it is capable of achieving.
Did the author of this article ever go to a real board meeting or a work session? If his view is from just the minutes his view is bound to be a bit skewed. As a former board member in Steilacoom for eight years I believe the board as a whole works to accomplish what is best and it is hard if not impossible to get a view from just minutes. Doing any business during the pandemic and using zoom had to be a real challenge. That challenge continues.
I am not the author of this article but I can answer the question of board meeting attendance.
I have missed only one meeting (I was doorbelling) of the Clover Park School Board, including work sessions, since December 21, 2020.
Given many of those meetings were virtual, or hybrid, I audiotaped each one.
From those audiotaped recordings, I transcribed, for purposes of word-for-word accuracy, pertinent sections of those meetings from which I wrote eight articles, published here and on my website: electdavidanderson.com.
The second plank (of three) on my platform in my candidacy for Clover Park School Board reads as follows:
“I will bring to the board recommendations for best practices to be implemented and regularly reviewed for effectiveness.”
If there is one topic of conversation – which the minutes should reflect – that school board members are charged with, elected for, should be typically characterized by, it is how they are doing as a school district in accomplishing the only goal, achieving the only purpose, for which they are representative: improving the quality of education.
When the last four years of statistics for the Clover Park School District reveal only 20% of students in Clover Park High School met math standards in 2018; that the District dropped 23 places in rankings since 2018; that the District’s five middle schools dropped an average of 50 places since 2018; and in the last four years the District slid from 109th to 160th in test score ranking now finding itself in the bottom third of Districts in the State, it is a reasonable question to ask why the minutes – much less the recorded meetings – do not have that concern as the school directors priority for discussion.
At every single board meeting.
These statistics can be found at Best School Districts in Washington – WA District Rankings (schooldigger.com).
No meetings of the Clover Park School Board which I attended, and as indicated by the author of this article, addressed the strategies of award-winning high schools in America that prepare students for postsecondary success, whether it is in a four-year college, community college, job training program, or the military.
While there is no one model for serving all students well, whether we are educators, parents, or teens looking to understand or improve the quality of our local high school, no other reason for being, no other discussion should dominate, the meetings of school board directors.
Considering that the parents are not listened to nor allowed to speak more than 3 minutes, how can they possibly give input about their children’s learning academics at Clover Park school district? The Superintendent should be fired as well as the 2 board members seeking re-election should just resign and call it a day. It is time for a fresh start with a new Superintendent & 2 new school board members Anderson & Brown. Let’s get this school district turned around to a productive leadership one, instead of a mediocre social club. I wonder if they pull out the poker cards & chips for their study sessions? Amazing failures by 3 parties the Superintendent, Schafer and Pearson!
Minutes are intended to be a recording of action points. They are not necessarily a recording of the entire meeting and discussion. This would be voluminous, and not relevant to subsequent scrutiny. The writer misunderstands what minutes are supposed to be. Moreover, the board’s job is oversight of the man or woman they pick to lead. He, in this case, has the knowledge and expertise to guide the district. The board does NOT run the day to day activities of the school district. They make sure they have the right people in place, and manage the direction that those people take the district.
I suggest you read the minutes yourself as I have. Having served on the Lakewood’s City Council as a member and Deputy Mayor I understand the purpose of the minutes and their importance for informing the public. The recording of action items is but one function of the minutes. Unfortunately there are relatively few “action items” beyond purely administrative functions (i.e. consent agenda, etc.) recorded in over 5+ years of CPSD Board minutes which is the point of my article. This is especially true of items which originate with the Board dealing with policy and accountability, are voted upon and tasked to the Superintendent for implementation. Unfortunately, Council and Board tendency is to defer those policy and accountability responsibilities to the “institutional” long serving city manager and Superintendent and staffs based upon their administrative knowledge forgetting that these are employees and not elected representatives. Nature abhors a vacuum and when Councils and Boards don’t do their jobs, the managers and superintendents step it to fill that space. What then results is an organization that makes its decisions based upon administrative desires and expediency, not upon the will of the people.
Interesting Reading https://caselaw.findlaw.com/wa-supreme-court/1405163.html
You might also like to read the dissenting opinions by Justices Sanders and Alexander which chastised the majority in this case.
http://courts.mrsc.org/supreme/144wn2d/144wn2d0583.htm
Sanders, J. (dissenting) – This case proves the exception to the rule that “no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.” No doubt disclosure is sometimes embarrassing to public servants who would prefer to act behind a veil of secrecy for reasons of political expediency; however, secrecy is precisely what the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), chapter 42.30 RCW, was designed to prevent.
This is a recall petition case. But the majority’s opinion is premised on a profoundly mistaken view of the OPMA, and undercuts the very foundation of the act.
At its heart this proceeding focuses on a narrow exception to the open meeting requirement of the OPMA. Under this exception governing bodies such as the Lakewood City Council may hold executive sessions only to (1) discuss litigation matters with legal counsel, (2) if, and only if, public knowledge of the discussion would likely result in adverse legal or financial consequences to the agency. I posit the majority’s decision necessarily defeats the narrow statutory limits to this exception, thereby undermining the broad protections afforded the public by the OPMA. It invites secrecy in governance and shields public officials from public responsibility for their acts.
As detailed below, the facts alleged by petitioners establish not one, but three, prima facie violations: (1) the Lakewood City Council conducted an executive session absent a demonstrated likelihood of adverse legal or financial consequences if the same discussion were held in public; (2) unauthorized third persons were present at the
executive session; and (3) the city council took “action” behind closed doors under the guise of an exception which only, at most, permits discussion with legal counsel.
Thank you, Bob! This is a wake-up call! It also explains everything we are currently reading from David Anderson’s supporters and donors.
David Anderson and John Arbeeny tried to recall our Lakewood City Council in 2001. They worked together on this! No wonder the Suburban Times is flooded with their endless grievances.
They organized a recall to get rid of Retired General Bill Harrison (Harrison Prep is named in his honor), Claudia Thomas (Thomas Middle School is named in her honor), Doug Richardson, Ann Kirk Davis, Jose Palmas and Larry Humphrey. These are all highly respected Lakewood citizens who were known for their professionalism and devotion to our city.
Anderson and Arbeeny’s reason for a recall? They “thought” the city council was having a “secret” meeting. Their claims were legally debunked and dismissed by the courts
It appears spreading conspiracy theories and personally trashing elected officials is a pattern with these two men. Now, they are attacking our school board! I don’t want our schools controlled by people who seem to exist in a ego-centered echo chamber.
My question: Just how similar are Jeff Brown and Paul Wagemann? It seems there is a tight group saying the exact same things and spreading the same disinformation that comes from the exact same outside district political sources. Why?
Diversion #11 which I recount in an upcoming Suburban Times article, is often encountered from the left. Just like CRT they dredge up something from decades (centuries) ago to deflect discussion from the subject at hand today. If you can make 2001 the issue perhaps you won’t have to discuss the issues of 2021. You can’t change 2001 but you can change 2021. What has a lawsuit 20 years ago got to do with the subject at hand: Board minutes 2016-2021: absolutely nothing! By the way, John Arbeeny and Ron Cronk, both parties to this lawsuit, were subsequently elected to the City Council along with Pad Finnegan and all served honorably. I suspect that’s more than either of you (Cherri Arkell, Bob Hammar) accomplished back then. Indeed the rest of Lakewood then understood the need for change regardless of the Supreme Court ruling. So too does the rest of Lakewood today understand the need for change on the Board.
Wow. I hope the voter’s read this! This tells us everything we need to know about who to vote for! ANDERSON and BROWN! Now is the chance to make real change for the kids and parents to succeed beyond the terrible proficiency scores at graduation in math 38% and reading 51% science 40% ! VOTE!
Dissenting opinions don’t count as your side Lost. You seem to object the way the Clover Park School operates as well as the Lakewood Water Co. and the City Of Lakewood. Do you enjoy being a Naysayer?
Even Supreme Courts can get it wrong: 232 times when the US Supreme Court has reversed one of its previous decisions. It’s not being a naysayer but rather holding government accountable. Lakewood Water Co.? Where did you get that? I strongly object with how the Clover Park School District operates as evidenced by it academic performance. What would you call a term paper or test result of 35%? A grade of F- if that was possible! Are you content with that kind of performance just to be agreeable? What would be your response if your child came home that grade? Well now’s the time to do something about that and it isn’t to re-elect current Board members who have presided over the free fall in CPSD academic performance.
Mr Hammar…when someone deserves a compliment they should get one, but after reading about this dysfunctional organization ostensibly identified as the Clover Park School Board from many, many sources, the OBVIOUS response is NAY!
I worked, for a time, for CPTC when it was CPVTI and I can tell you with considerable experience the CPTC School Board was a lost cause back in the late 80’s and early 9’s.
Further in my 18 years teaching CP School District so-called graduates I found far too many who could not:
– do simple math;
– do basic research on a subject;
– write a letter or report without serious issues w/regard to content, grammar & punctuation;
– prepare and give a 5-15 minute presentation.
Of course there are CPTC graduates who do very well and have been successful post-high school, but far too many (as the statistics tell) have issues.
EKC
In response to Mr. Hammar’s comment, if customers were not satisfied with the service and responsible stewardship of the Lakewood Water Company, one can be sure they would seek accountability from it. (Fortunately the company provides superb service.) Mr. Arbeeny investigates and comments on unsatisfactory performance, in this case of the Clover Park School District leadership as reflected in a study of the last five years of minutes of Board meetings, surely an important role of concerned and responsible citizens. He performs a service to the community for the benefit of those who are not aware of, or do not have time to pursue reasons for, the declining academic results of the District. How can poor performance be improved if it is not recognized and evaluated in the first place?
Regarding the function of CPSD Board minutes, what purpose are they meant to serve? They are a waste of time if they do not provide a record of substantial issues and action for which the Board is responsible. In fairness, perhaps the recorder has not been briefed on items which should be included.
In his first blog on Patch, Is Lakeview Light and Power gouging its customers with late fees?, Arbeeny details his frustration with Lakeview Light and Power for charging unjust late fees.
I’m not the only one who is/was upset with Lakewood Light and Power. Perhaps you should look at their on-line ratings. Nothing has changed!
https://www.google.com/search?channel=tus5&client=firefox-b-1-d&q=lakeview+light+and+power#lrd=0x5491013da780cda7:0xa62b5e5e24f86a28,1,
Two stars out of 5 stars possible…………about 40% approval………just about at the level CPSD is performing. And this didn’t deserve criticism back then or today? You’re OK with this? Really?
Ah, when you referred to the “Lakewood Water Co.” in your second comment I mistakenly thought you were referring to the “Lakewood Water District”, not the “Lakeview Light and Power” company. Nevertheless, Mr. Arbeeny appears to be consistent in bringing issues to light for the public to consider.
I want to take a moment to thank Mr.Arbeeny for his letter and consider the implications of his desires. I am rather new to the Lakewood area and appreciate someone pointing out those who I would never vote for. In this case that would be Mr. Anderson and Mr. Brown. Anyone who is supported by Mr. Arbeeny is suspect in my book. I believe that what they profess is a smokescreen for their true intentions. This is just another ploy by the right designed to allow them to indoctrinate the youth into their way of thinking. All in a vain attempt to gain or retain power. Now if Mr. Arbeeny actuallly has any valid points I am not sure. I am sure that the board does not run at the command of Mr. Arbeeny however. After reading his letter I still don’t see what he is asking for with the exception of electing his candidates. What’s is really going on here, you guys didn’t get the memo that crt as a topic is over? We’ve moved on to trying to get the board to resign by confronting them on mask mandates at the meetings. I understand that you are running scared because the white man is losing his majority status. I also understand that you have nothing else to run on but fear. But the time has come for your way of thinking to be placed on the ash heap of history past. It is time to move past those who think that the government is the problem, especially those who don’t have answers that they can articulate, and that people will believe are true and correct. I also wonder just what philosophy these guys base their arguments on? The right has been defunding education for many years and now they complain about it not being what it used to be.
James Grimsey,
Welcome to Lakewood. I thank you for caring about our community.
I want you to know that our current school board is a conservative board. It consists of 5 elected members. With the exception of one member, who claimed that if you give extra help to one student in need you are taking away from another and that providing equity for students is Marxist, these board members voted last night to adopt a Focus on Equity plan to meet the needs of our diverse population of students. These four board members know that in doing so, they will be on the receiving end of continued vicious attacks from extremists.
Marty Schafer, Alyssa Pearson, Carole Jacobs and Anthony Veliz put the education of our children above their personal politics, which is required of those who wish to serve our diverse student population and families. They invested their time in listening, learning and then responding appropriately. I have never been as proud of a school board as I was last night. Please stay involved in keeping partisan politics out of our schools.
“This (CRT) is just another ploy by the LEFT designed to allow them to indoctrinate the youth into their way of thinking. All in a vain attempt to gain or retain power.” Small correction; huge difference. The truth is that CRT is exactly what the left is using to indoctrinate the youth in an attempt to destroy this Country. If a leftist’s lips are moving you can be sure everything they say is 180 degrees out from the truth. What does anything in your response have to do with the issue at hand: Board leading from behind? Nothing. Maybe you need to live in Lakewood a bit longer to understand what’s going on.
I so appreciate the research that went into this article. Thank you John for being so informative and thorough!