School board meeting last night! It’s been months since I’ve last attended, so several things seemed new to me that may be old hat to you. We have had two new board members elected, Haley Pendergraft and Michael Wiggins. I was pleased to see both of them fully participating and adding value to the board. We have had one board member announce her resignation, Val Paganelli. I was glad to see she is still actively serving during this transition out. We now have one of our student board representatives–today it was Sanjana Sanjay–sitting on the stand with the adult board directors, and she took the opportunity to weigh in on the topics being discussed. The board has been reorganized with Malia Hollowell as president. I’m sure I missed the memos of when these things first changed!

Highly capable services don’t come up every board meeting, and I don’t expect them to. Here are some other topics that were discussed, however, that show where our district is focusing right now:

• · School Board Director District Tour. The directors recently spent an entire day visiting each school in the district and hearing from students about their experiences.
• · Public comment. Topics brought up were equity work, mask requirements, and collaboration with the city.
• · School Counseling. The district wellness coordinator expressed appreciation for our school counselors, acknowledging the wholistic approach they bring to both students’ education and their success in the classroom.
• · Career and Technical Education. The department chair reported on the high school’s CTE program. There is a focus on usable skills and classes for the workforce, and the program is growing dramatically. The most requested classes are American Sign Language, personal finance, sports medicine, and marketing.