Clover Park School District announcement.
Sept. 12 Regular Meeting
During its Sept. 12 board meeting, the Clover Park School District (CPSD) Board of Directors heard a report from Superintendent Ron Banner.
Superintendent’s Report
- In his report, Banner discussed community engagement, enrollment, bond re-financing, the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) and union contract negotiations.
Community Engagement
- Two Harrison Preparatory School students, seniors Brianna Norris and Chow Alvarado, sang “God Bless America” at the city of Lakewood’s 9/11 Remembrance Event.
Student Enrollment
- The district projected 11,915 students for the 2022-23 school year. After the first four-day count in September, the district had a count of 11,901, which is 99.88 percent of projected enrollment.
Bond Re-Financing
- The board recently approved refinancing 2012 bonds in order to save money for taxpayers over the life of the bond. The resale of these bonds was completed, saving $5 million over the life of the bond.
- This is the second time in the past two years that the district has used this process, saving taxpayers approximately $10 million dollars over the life of refinanced bonds.
WSSDA General Assembly
- Each board member received their packet on WSSDA positions and documents on how they want the board to vote on each position.
Contract Negotiations
- The district has completed negotiations with the Clover Park Education Association, Athletics and Activities Association and Clover Park Association of School Principals.
- Banner expressed his sincere gratitude to all of the bargaining teams of both the district and unions.
As part of the Individual Action Agenda, the Board of Directors:
- Authorized superintendent to enter into consultant agreement with Helping Hands to provide special education services for 2022-23 school year.
- Approved award for Clover Park High School parking lot improvements with Forma Construction.
- Approved Collective Bargaining Agreement between district and the Clover Park Education Association between the period Sept. 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2024.
- Approved Collective Bargaining Agreement between district and the Athletics and Activities Association between the period Sept. 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2026.
- Approved Collective Bargaining Agreement between district and the Clover Park Association of School Principals between the period Sept. 1, 2022, through June 30, 2025.
The next regular meeting of the school board will be Monday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m.
Sept. 26 Regular Meeting/Workshop
The school board held a regular meeting/workshop on Sept. 26. During the workshop, board members participated in a training about board self-assessment from Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) director for leadership development Tricia Lubach.
The training focused on discussing the results of the board’s WSSDA board self-assessment survey. The survey asked board members how the board is operating in alignment with the Washington School Board Standards.
The board reflected on the factors that impact student success and the behavior of high-performing boards. Board members had small group conversations to discuss the board’s areas of strength and opportunities for growth based on the self-assessment survey results.
The next regular meeting/workshop of the school board will be Monday, Oct. 24, at 5:30 p.m.
Why does it take CPSD nearly a month to provide the public a “Board review” (not even the minutes of these meetings) when City of Lakewood puts theirs out within the week of their meetings? To paraphrase the old proverb “Timeliness is next to godliness”. I you want the business of the CPSD Board to be relevant to the community then it must be presented in a timely manner. In this “rush rush” world, news a month old is merely old news and bears little interest in a community which is already looking a month ahead. There is no excuse for the current delay in publication of relevant Board deliberations and actions unless you don’t want them to be seen as relevant.
Speaking of timeliness, the information you provided regarding the biased Lakewood Cares group could’ve been printed sooner rather than later so the public can be informed about the groups agenda, beliefs and overall vision for the City of Lakewood’s education for children.