Board Recognizes Employees’ Years of Service
April 15 Regular Meeting
During its April 15 meeting, the CPSD school board recognized employees for 30, 35 and 40 years of service and heard reports from Superintendent Ron Banner and Four Heroes Elementary School Principal Lindsay Akoni Guzzo.
Superintendent’s Report
In his report, Banner discussed community engagement events, academic achievement and the district’s newly-received Purple Star Award.
- Banner thanked elementary education secretary Terese High and other district staff who represented CPSD at the Daffodil Parade this year. The district received the parade’s “Spirit Award” for its float.
- Lakes High School senior Wyatt Blanchard received a $260,000 Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Scholarship to attend Pacific Lutheran University.
- Banner previewed the Cops vs. Teachers charity basketball at Lakes on April 26. Proceeds for this year’s event went to the Lakewood Family YMCA.
- In his yearly address, Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier praised the CPSD Superintendent’s Youth Advisory Council for its work on a fentanyl awareness video project this year.
- Seven CPSD high school students were hired as interns by The Boeing Company as part of its Core Plus internship program this summer. Five of the students are from Lakes and two are from Clover Park High School.
- CPSD received a Purple Star Award from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for its commitment to military-connected students and families. The award is part of a program that was established by the Washington State Legislature in 2023.
Four Heroes Elementary School Report
Four Heroes Elementary School Principal Lindsay Akoni Guzzo presented on her school’s demographics, assessment scores, School Annual Action Plan (SAAP) goals and community engagement.
The demographics of Four Heroes are representative of the rich diversity of the city of Lakewood, with more than 53% of students identifying as Hispanic, which nearly doubles the state average. The school’s multiracial, black and Pacific Islander/Hawaiian student populations also exceed the state average for each category. Additionally, more than 90% of students at Four Heroes qualify as low income.
Akoni Guzzo detailed her school’s Smarter Balanced Assessment score trends, showing high growth across the board for Four Heroes students. Students in all grade levels demonstrated an expected drop in English Language Arts (ELA) and math scores following the pandemic and rebounded in spring of 2023, with the exception of fourth grade ELA, which dipped slightly following the pandemic and then dipped further in spring 2023.
However, despite the drop in ELA in 2023, that cohort of students demonstrated above average growth in both math and ELA. These gains show that those fourth graders gained more than one full year of growth despite lower proficiency scores.
Four Heroes’ SAAP goals focus on increasing median Student Growth Percentiles for all Four Heroes students to 60 percent or higher this spring, increasing community events offered in the school and the percentage of families who feel welcome at the school, and increasing staff collective efficacy and the percentage of students who affirm that “adults at school care about me” to 85%.
Four Heroes strives to provide ample opportunities for its greater school community to engage in and feel welcome at the school, which include home visits by school staff, a meet and greet event, and one big family event per trimester.
As part of the Individual Action Agenda, the Board of Directors:
- Approved award for Tillicum Elementary School Sewer Connection to GEC NW Inc. The project will facilitate moving from sceptic to sewer at Tillicum.
- Approved award for replacement of the Clover Park High School (CPHS) irrigation system to Buckley Nursery. This work will update the irrigation system for code requirement purposes.
- Approved CPHS fire alarm panel system replacement for bid solicitation. The district worked with an electrical engineering firm to review the work necessary for replacement of the fire panel to follow proper code requirements.
- Adopted the following policies (view online):
- 2004, Performance Improvement Goals
- 2090, Program Evaluation
- 2121, Substance Abuse Program
- 2401, Financial Education Mastery Based Learning and Credit
- 2413, Equivalency Credit for Career and Technical Education Courses
- 2415, Performance-Based Pathway for High School Graduation
- 5005, Employment Disclosures, Certification Requirements, Assurances & Approval
- 5280, Separation from Employment
- 5310, Salaries, Wages and Benefits
- 6111, Tuition
- 6513, Workplace Violence Prevention
The next regular meeting of the school board will be Monday, May 13, at 6 p.m.
April 22 Regular Meeting/Workshop
The school board held a regular meeting/workshop on April 22. During the workshop, board members heard updates on the Washington State Legislature’s recently-completed session, the district’s Academic Improvement Committee, nutrition and wellness, and the 2024-25 school year budget development.
Washington State Legislature Update
Assistant Executive Director for Government Relations of the Washington Association of School Administrators provided an update on the Washington State Legislature’s 68th legislation session.
His update included information on the 2023-25 operating budget, the 2024 supplemental operating budget, the 2024 supplemental capital budget, bills of interest from the session and next steps.
The Legislature focused its efforts in this session to increase funding in five major areas: pupil transportation, paraeducators staff allocations, the Community Eligibility Provision, material supply and operating cost adjustments, and the special education cap.
Steele highlighted bills that were passed during the session that impact education and some that were not passed. WASA adopted four primary long-term legislative priorities: update staff allocations, modify regionalization/experience factors, reform levy/local effort assistance and support capital facilities.
Academic Improvement Committee Quarterly Report
Deputy Superintendent Brian Laubach provided a quarterly report on the district’s Academic Improvement Committee (AIC). His report included an introduction to the Washington State Improvement Framework that was previously provided to board members.
The AIC is focused on three primary goals: preparing students for college and career readiness by increasing academic achievement and closing gaps in a achievement and college readiness; increasing engagement and communication with students and families; and creating a culture of supportive learning environments for students and staff.
The AIC has been examining data in recent months to identify best practices for the district’s PLC+ initiative. At its May meeting, the AIC will use findings from this data analysis to potentially make changes to 2024-25 School Annual Action Plans.
Nutrition and Wellness Update
Director of Student Nutrition Kevin Scott presented on nutrition and wellness in CPSD. The district is serving more than 13,000 meals per day, which is ahead of last year’s pace, in large part, because of the Community Eligibility Provision that was expanded this year to offer free meals to all students.
Scott discussed needed policy and procedure updates to ensure consistency in meal pricing procedures.
Budget Update for 2024-25
Assistant Superintendent of Business Services and Capital Projects Greg Hart presented on the status of the district’s 2024-25 school year budget development. He reviewed the current general fund balance, provided a comparison of revenue and expenditures over the last two years, and discussed other funds and budgeted enrollment.
Additionally, Hart discussed the district’s community input process using the ThoughtExchange platform. More than 502 individuals participated in the exchange by providing anonymously providing their thoughts and ranking those suggestions. Hart shared a brief breakdown of results, including how participants rated budget priorities and the top thoughts shared.
The district will host a community budget workshop on May 21. The school board is slated to adopt the budget at its July 8 meeting.
The next regular meeting/workshop of the school board will be Tuesday, May 28, at 5:30 p.m.
