School Board Recognizes Principals Month
At its Oct. 9 regular meeting, the Clover Park School District (CPSD) Board of Directors recognized CPSD principals in honor of National Principals Month.
They were joined by CPSD Principal’s Association President and Tillicum Elementary School Principal Jeff Miller for the recognition.
“Leading a building is much more complex than what people think,” said School Board President Alyssa Anderson Pearson. “They truly go above and beyond each and every day.”
Oct. 9 Regular Meeting
During its Oct. 9 regular meeting, the CPSD Board of Directors recognized principals for National Principals Month and heard reports from Superintendent Ron Banner and Tillicum Elementary School Principal Jeff Miller.
Superintendent’s Report
In his report, Banner discussed the district’s participation in the South Sound Wildlife Cleanup on Saturday, Oct. 7. More than 50 CPSD students, parents and staff volunteered to help clean up the wildlife refuge located near Hudtloff Middle School.
Banner thanked Executive Director of Marketing and Community Relations Leanna Albrecht and Director of Equity and Community Engagement Grant Twyman for their efforts supporting the event.
Tillicum Elementary School Report
Tillicum Elementary School Principal Jeff Miller shared information on the school’s demographics compared to state data and briefed the board on Tillicum’s assessment scores, noting both proficiency and growth levels.
Miller highlighted the progress of first grade students in both reading and math. First graders at Tillicum are showing high levels of growth and proficiency. The school is looking at teaching practices happening in first grade classrooms and discussing how they can apply those schoolwide.
Tillicum third and fifth graders are out-pacing post-pandemic statewide growth in the Smarter Balanced Assessment. While proficiency dropped at the school from 2019 to 2022, scores rebounded significantly in 2023, raising at much higher rates than the state average.
Miller presented on the school’s Annual Action Plan goals and discussed ways Tillicum is working to meet those goals. Tillicum staff are focused on increasing positive interactions with families, building confidence in students and increasing opportunities for student voice.
As part of the Individual Action Agenda, the Board of Directors:
- Accepted a grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity for $2 million to support equity, diversity, inclusion, and the overall preparation of each student to success and contribute to the local and global community. The grant is intended to improve each student’s proficiency in mathematics and access to career pathways through earlier engagement, exposure and connection between classroom instruction and STEAM careers.
- Declared property owned by the district located at 8102 Phillips Rd Southwest, Lakewood, as surplus and not necessary for school purposes. The city of Lakewood notified CPSD of its desire to acquire approximately 3,046 square feet of said property for sidewalk, bike lane and road improvements.
- Authorized the proposed Replacement Programs and Operations Levy to be placed on the Feb. 13, 2024, special election ballot. The current levy expires in 2024. Approval of the replacement levy would assess an estimated $2.36 per $1,000 of assessed property value and generate an average of $26.9 million for each of four years of the levy.
- Adopted the following policies (view online):
- 2190 on Highly Capable Programs
- 3207 on Prohibition of Harassment Intimidation and Bullying
- 3231 on Student Records
- 5050 on Contracts
- 6220 on Bid or Request for Proposal Requirements
The next regular meeting of the school board will be Monday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m.
Oct. 23 Regular Meeting/Workshop
The school board held a regular meeting/workshop on Oct. 23. During the workshop, board members heard updates on potential bus purchases, grants CPSD had received from the Department of Defense Education Authority (DoDEA) and Public Disclosure Commission guidelines for levy campaigns.
Transportation Bus Purchases
Director of Capital Projects and Risk Management John Boatman shared a presentation about a potential proposal for future replacement buses. Seventeen buses are scheduled for replacement this year based on the state of Washington’s replacement schedule.
The district currently has a reserve fleet of surplus buses to ensure buses are available should a primary bus need service or repairs. However, the current reserve fleet outnumbers the number of needed buses.
CPSD is expected to request seven new buses this year to be supplemented with 10 out of the surplus reserve fleet. The replacement proposal will be presented to the school board in January.
Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Grants
Director of Teaching and Learning Suzy Kontos and her team presented on DoDEA grants the district has received over the last five years. CPSD has received four grants over that time.
2018 Next Generation Science Standards Grant: The five-year, $1.25 million grant was completed in May. Science scores in CPSD had the smallest math decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic of any other grant-receiving schools and the schools specifically targeted by the grant performed especially well.
2021 World Language Advancement and Readiness Grant: The goal of this five-year, $3 million grant is to honor biliteracy or graduate more biliterate students. It also honors a student’s heritage by enabling competency credit testing. Spanish language classes are now offered for all grade 3-5 student at elementary schools on Joint Base Lewis-McChord and at Thomas Middle School as a result of the grant.
2022 Computer Science for All: Last year was a planning year for this 5-year, $1.3 million grant. The district created K-5 weekly computer science lessons, added staff training for more computer science-focused staff training at the secondary level and provided after-school elementary computer science programs. This year, the elementary schools identified by the grant have been receiving push-in computer science support in the classroom for regular lessons.
2023 Applied Math to Inspiring Promising Futures: CPSD was awarded a five-year, $2 million grant focused K-8 math instruction and its application to STEAM career pathways. The goal of the grant is for all K-8 students to increase their skills in mathematics and understand its relevance to STEAM career pathways.
Public Disclosure Commission Guidelines
Executive Director of Marketing and Community Relations Leanna Albrecht updated the board about the 2024 Replacement Educational Programs and Operations Levy and shared Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) guidelines as they apply to the district’s levy campaign.
