| Policy Governance Update - March 2008 |
Date Posted: 3/13/2008 |
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The Yakima School District Board of Directors is preparing to complete its formal move to Policy Governance at its April 15 Business meeting. After almost two years in study, preparing and revising policies, and implementing community linkage sessions, the School Board looks forward to formal and full implementation of the Policy Governance form of governance. The School Board expects to hold a Policy Governance Forum on Tuesday March 25th, 7:00-8:00 at Central Services Conference Room A&B to present its preparation for the move to Policy Governance and to hear any suggestions for improvements on proposed Policy Governance Policies. In addition, as always the board welcomes any comments on this or any other issues before the board through public testimony or in writing.
Policy Governance formalizes in board policy those beliefs, values and practices that have characterized the Yakima School District Board of Directors for many years: That we have an obligation to represent the community owners of the district, and that we must be accountable in governance as we hold our superintendent and district accountable for excellence in operation and student outcomes. Policy Governance is consistent with national and state school board standards which encourage local boards to develop systems to “Govern through Policy”. In this time of change and increased accountability in public education, when our district is accountable for student achievement outcomes as never before, when we are asking more of our staff and administrators than ever before, the Yakima School District Board of Directors is doing our part to step up to excellence in governance by adopting Policy Governance. We don’t need to look far to see what problems a distracted and disorganized school board can cause for a district, and we don’t ever want that to happen in Yakima. The time to step up to excellence in governance is while things are moving in a positive direction, while the district is making strong strides in improving academic achievement, while the board is strong and functioning well. This change is an investment in the future strength of the board and the district.
Reference documents include:
http://www.yakimaschools.org/Departments/bod/Yakima_School_District_Board_of_Directors_Policy_Governance_.pdf
http://www.yakimaschools.org/Departments/bod/Status_of_Policy_Governance_Policies.pdf
http://www.yakimaschools.org/Departments/bod/March_2007_Board_Presentation_on_Policy_Governance.pdf
See also full policies and other documents related to Policy Governance previously posted in this Current News section.
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| Martha Rice Elected as WSSDA President-Elect |
Date Posted: 11/27/2007 |
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| Yakima school board member Martha Rice is elected as WSSDA president-elect, putting her in line for the WSSDA presidency one year from now. The Yakima School District Board of Directors is very proud to have our colleagues around the state recognize the fine leadership and advocacy abilities that Martha brings to the WSSDA board. We are fortunate to have Martha’s continued advocacy for issues that impact our students and our district at the state level. |
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| Policy Governance Update - November 2007 |
Date Posted: 11/5/2007 |
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The board will hold its next board training with Policy Governance consultant Connie Fletcher (Issaquah School Board) in Board Study Sessions to be held Thursday, November 8, 4-7 p.m., and Friday, November 9, 7:15-9a.m. Both sessions will take place at the Central Services Building, 104 North 4th Avenue, Yakima. Board Study Sessions are open to the public and the board welcomes attendance by interested community members.
The topic of these training dates will be Monitoring Procedures for Executive Limitation and Board-Superintendent Linkage policies. During these two days of training, the board will review Executive Limitation and Board-Superintendent Linkage policies, which are currently on first reading, to establish expectations for reporting on the policies. The board expects to approve the remaining Policy Governance policies that are on first reading at its November 20 business meeting.
These two days of training follow three previous days of training with this consultant, the last of which occurred in June of this year. Approval of the Executive Limitation and Board-Superintendent Linkage policies, as well as an update of the Board Ends policy to reflect the district Ends/Goals adopted by the board in June of this year, will complete the Board revision of policies to move to Policy Governance. The next step will be to schedule accountability reports from the superintendent. In addition, the board expects to resume Board Community Linkage meetings as an important mechanism to continue to solicit input from the community owners of the district, beginning January 2008. Fourteen separate Community Linkage meetings were held by the board in January–June of this year, and the input obtained at those meetings was used by the board in crafting the updated district Ends/Goals for the district’s updated Roadmap.
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| Raymond Navarro Jr. Speaks to Group regarding Simple Majority |
Date Posted: 10/25/2007 |
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| Raymond Navarro Jr., Yakima School District board member, joined other speakers on October 11, 2007, for a Simple Majority ballot measure panel discussion sponsored by The League of Women Voters of Yakima County. Mr. Navarro addressed the inequity of school funding for districts on the eastside of the state compared to the wealth of funding available to districts on the westside. He emphasized that levy dollars, once used for supplemental programs, are now necessary to provide school programs and materials inadequately funded by the state. Mr. Navarro added that collecting levy dollars qualifies a district for additional Levy Equalization funds provided by the state; however, these state funds are not available if a levy does not pass. Vicki Dwight, Yakima Education Association President, joined the panel discussion, providing the history of the Super Majority and explaining the difference between district bonds and levies. Susan Whitman, City Council Representative, reported that the Simple Majority will help our community pass school levies and this, in turn, boosts the community’s economy. Panelists had opportunity to address other aspects of the issue and answer questions from the audience. [Expand Story] |
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| Opening Day Address from Board President to All Staff on 8/28/07 |
Date Posted: 8/31/2007 |
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Vickie Ybarra's Address to All Staff at the Welcome Back Celebration, August 28, 2007:
Good Morning. On behalf of the District Board of Directors, I’d like to welcome you to the 2007-2008 school year. I trust your summer was a time of reflection and renewal, and that you’re once again ready to take on the joys and challenges of a whole new school year. Thank you for being here and thank you for the work you’re prepared to do this school year with your students, with OUR students.
This morning I’d like to take a few moments to honor you all for the work you do with students, to recognize the incredible challenges that you face successfully each day, and to thank you for your great work. I’d also like to talk a bit about the board’s work, and share with you a wonderful opportunity on the horizon for us.
The article in the paper this past Saturday on the WASL release caused some of us mixed feelings. Six out of eleven schools in the state now in Step 5 of school improvement are schools in the Yakima Valley, including three in our district.
Unfortunately, the language of classification used in the No Child Left Behind scheme is limiting (to say the least) and doesn’t adequately reflect the tremendous strides and success with students being achieved in our buildings, all of our buildings, each and every day. It doesn’t reflect that scores have been improving, despite the fact that each year we have a greater proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds entering our schools. The NCLB classification doesn’t show the challenges involved in moving large numbers of students who come to us speaking only Spanish and for whom we are charged with the complex task of moving to English in a constructive deliberate manner that builds on their existing knowledge to strengthen not just their English skills but their future ability to learn complex higher level concepts.
Limited English abilities and abject poverty of our students are not excuses, they are very real challenges that you are meeting each day. Each of you give these students, our students, tools they need to be successful. Scores are improving, students are achieving, and step by step we are creating success TOGETHER.
I want you to know that we, the Board of Directors, recognize the exceptional work you are doing – those of you who interact with students and parents each day in all of our buildings. We know we are asking a great deal of you – asking you to step up, in many cases, to do things in new ways, and, in some cases, to use new tools to address the needs of our students. We know we are asking you to work harder than you ever have before, to continue your own learning, and to engage students who often are in less-than-ideal circumstances - to take students from where they are, not where we wish they were, and bring them to higher standards. We recognize that you are meeting the challenge, and we thank you for your extraordinary work. Please know that we will NOT allow this community to believe that the “Needs Improvement” label that NCLB puts on some of our schools or on our district means “Failing” in this district or in our buildings, and we will continue to communicate the very real success you and our students are producing each day. We are proud to be engaged in this work with you, and proud to be counted as colleagues with you exceptional people.
So, a brief update on the work of the Board. Many of you know that earlier this year, from January through June, the Board was engaged in creating new Goals for the district as a part of our revision of the District Roadmap. In the context of our board move to Policy Governance, we engaged in Community Linkage sessions – small interactive groups of targeted segments of our community, along with larger open meetings. We held 14 of these meetings in all from January through June. We asked all the people in all these groups the same question:
“Envision what the Yakima community will be like when our kindergartners graduate from high school. What skills, knowledge and abilities will they need in order for them to live successful and productive lives and to contribute to the community?”
From their collective answers, along with other information the board had access to, we DRAFTED new goals. We then took that draft back out to the community of people who had helped in the initial feedback sessions for their input prior to finalizing these in June. Using this process, we came up with 4 new goals for the district:
1. Mastery of the Basics and Beyond: Students will demonstrate academic proficiency, incorporating technology tools necessary for such proficiency.
2. Civic and Global Participation: Students will be actively engaged in the community and be prepared to participate in a global society, culturally and socially.
3. Innovation and Creative Expression: Students will demonstrate creativity and artistic expression beginning early in their educational process, resulting in creative problem solving, critical thinking, and an increased appreciation for the arts.
4. Skills for Successful Living: Through a collaborative process involving the school, community, parents and families, students will demonstrate skills necessary for success in work, school and life.
Our thanks to the many of you who spent the same six months working on the District Improvement Plan that is currently being aligned with these new goals, so that they fit together to form the revised Roadmap that will be in place by the end of October.
Lastly, I’d like to share with you a great opportunity in early learning that is taking shape in our community, and that will impact all of us in our work. You’ve probably heard that the Gates Foundation has identified a specific geographic area encompassing north and east Yakima as one of two Community Demonstration projects for early learning in the state. They’ve pledged a major investment for 10 years starting in 2008. The ESD 105 has been coordinating this effort and has served as the fiscal agent for the planning period over the past 6 months. It is a community-wide effort with hundreds of people involved, and with the district as a major partner. I’ve had the privilege of being involved in this effort since its inception, when a small group worked to position Yakima County to attract the attention of The Gates Foundation, as we knew they were scouring the state for potential demonstration communities. The Goal of this project, now called Thrive by Five Yakima, is for all children to arrive at kindergarten ready for school.
I share this with you because of the tremendous opportunity this represents for us. Over the coming 2-3 years, I believe that because of this effort and investment we will see SUBSTANTIALLY more kindergartners coming to us prepared to learn - children from the most challenging circumstances in north and east Yakima. And this effort will complement the work we’re doing to address the challenges faced by those students. You’ll be hearing much more about this effort in the coming months as the Project Plan submitted just yesterday to the Gates Foundation goes through the review, negotiation, and final approval process before implementation beginning in January.
So in conclusion… on behalf of the board, I’d like to thank you once again for the work you’re about to undertake for this school year…
… for your commitment to students,
….for your commitment to high standards,
…and, as always, for your selfless work.
Thank you.
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| Message from Board President - Spring 2007 |
Date Posted: 6/21/2007 |
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Who doubts that young people today are more intelligent, well-behaved, vital and committed to their community than they’ve ever been? How lucky we are in this community to have such great young people to celebrate. I believe that this good fortune should cause us to reflect on our responsibilities as adults to the youth of our community.
One of the great privileges as a school board member is to witness the spring season of celebration of great students in the district. We do well to loudly and proudly celebrate the accomplishments of hundreds of youth in our community who are choosing a constructive life course.
In May and June, our school board had the wonderful experience of honoring terrific students in our district:
• One Washington State Scholar, in the top 1% of seniors statewide;
• 32 Washington State Principal Scholars, in the top 5% of seniors statewide;
• 92 Honor Students at Honors Convocation, with GPAs of 3.5 or higher.
In addition, we honored 50 Stanton Academy high school graduates, many of whom have faced substantial adversity, but have persevered to achieve an important milestone. And, of course, we honored 292 Davis and 310 Eisenhower high school graduates; talented students who collectively graduated with many honors and hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships.
As we celebrate youth, in the spring and all throughout the year, I encourage each adult in our community to consider what responsibility and role we have to provide a community that supports the achievements of young people. We all do have a role in this, whether we have children in our home or not. We may impact the lives of young people directly, by meeting their daily needs and providing personal encouragement. We may impact the lives of young people more indirectly, by providing part time jobs or volunteer opportunities for youth. We may be in positions of public trust, as are school board members, and provide policy support for nurturing social and school environments and quality instruction.
Whatever your role, I encourage you to consider seriously how you might support one or all of the wonderful, successful, positive youth we are so fortunate to have in our community.
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| DRAFT Ends/Goals Statements |
Date Posted: 6/19/2007 |
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Since January, the Yakima School District Board of Directors has met in 13 community linkage groups with over 100 community members to get feedback on this question:
“Envision what the Yakima community will be like when our kindergartners graduate from high school. What skills, knowledge, and abilities will they need in order for them to live successful and productive lives and to contribute to the community?”
The purpose in asking this question has been to help provide the board insight into the values of the community as we work to craft the goals that will guide the district for the coming three years. We’ve received wonderfully rich feedback from all who’ve participated in this process.
As planned, the board met in an all-day work session this past Friday June 15th, to draft the new goals/ends statements for the district. We based our work in large part on the feedback we’ve received from the 13 community linkage meetings we’ve had with you and other interested community members, as well as written input and readings we’ve received, and other information the board has reviewed.
The DRAFT goals/ends statements that we came up with at our Friday meeting include 6 goals for students. DRAFT Goals/Ends Statements:
http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/DRAFT_EndsGoals_Statements.pdf
We invite your feedback this week on the DRAFT goals/ends statements, and specifically the answer to these questions:
> If we accomplish these results with all our students, do you believe we will have fulfilled our mission? If not, what’s missing?
> What do you perceive to be the primary barriers to our success in each of these end result areas? How can the community help us?
> What can we do to ensure that the community knows and understands the importance of the goals/ends statements as well as the importance of its role in helping us achieve them?
We welcome responses to these questions in writing, either by letter or email, prior to Friday June 22nd when we will meet to finalize these statements.
The board’s work this year with community linkages has been a part of our overall move to policy governance. We appreciate your interest and support of the board’s efforts as we implement this new method of receiving feedback from the community and incorporating the community values into our district goals/ends statements.
Vickie Ybarra
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| Martha Rice Appointed as WSSDA Vice President - April 2007 |
Date Posted: 4/30/2007 |
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The Yakima School District Board of Directors is proud to note that our own Martha Rice has been appointed as Vice President of the Washington State School Directors’ Association. Martha’s long and notable service to the Yakima School Board and WSSDA has been recognized by the WSSDA board in this appointment, and we are proud to support her in this role.
Link to WSSDA:
www.wssda.org/wssda/webforms/en-us/news/2007/20070331_rice.asp
April 2007
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| Message from Board President Vickie Ybarra |
Date Posted: 3/19/2007 |
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In July 2006, the Yakima School District Board of Directors formally and publicly started down the road of moving our board operations to policy governance. Policy governance is a manner of formalizing board operations including the board’s relationships with the community, with itself, and with the superintendent. The Yakima School District Board of Directors has been operating by many of the principles contained in policy governance for many years.
Policy governance rests on the belief that the board has an obligation to represent the community owners of the district. It operationalizes our belief that the board speaks with one voice, or not at all, and that we provide instruction to the superintendent via written policies. It provides a structure for the work of the board, focused on assuring that the outcomes of the district are achieved for all students, while also assuring that inappropriate means are not employed to achieve those outcomes. And it puts us as a board in more direct contact with the community owners of the district, regularly gaining input that is incorporated into the goals of the district.
While there is nothing forcing the Yakima School District Board of Directors to adopt policy governance, we believe this is part of our responsibility to protect the future of the district. In the same way that we are asking employees all over the district to step up with their best, to think about their work in new ways, and to achieve excellence in their own area of practice, we believe it is our responsibility to step up with excellence in governance. For us, policy governance represents that excellence. Our board has for years operated according to many of the principles of policy governance, under the quality leadership that was in place. This move seems to the current board the natural next step in formalizing good governance for the district and ensuring the board stays focused on priorities. We don’t need to look far to see what problems a distracted and disorganized school board can cause for a district, and we don’t ever want that to happen in Yakima. The time to make this next step is while things are going well, while the district is making strong strides in improving academic achievement, while the board is strong and functioning well. This change is an investment in the future strength of the district.
As a part of our move to policy governance, the Yakima School District Board of Directors has undertaken an intensive effort to connect with the community around the goals of the district. Between January and May of 2007 we will meet with 13 separate groups of invited community members to listen to their answer to this question: “Envision what the Yakima Community will be like when our kindergartners graduate from high school. What skills, knowledge and abilities will they need in order for them to live successful and productive lives and to contribute to the community?”
The answers that the board hears will be used to inform our crafting of new goals for the district to be used in the 2007 update of the district’s Roadmap. In addition to invitational meetings, the board expects to hold a large general community meeting to receive additional input on this question at the Central Services Building, 104 North 4th Avenue, Monday, May 14, at 7 p.m. In the meantime, the board welcomes your input on this question and the district’s Roadmap process, so please write me at the district office at Yakima Public Schools, 104 North 4th Avenue, Yakima, WA 98902.
The Yakima School District Board of Directors has been investigating and moving towards policy governance for some time. In addition to sessions we’ve attended at Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) conferences over the past two years, our board has held discussion and training in public meetings on the topic over the 8 months that led to the first reading of our 26 proposed policy governance policies. See links to minutes from all of our board meetings where policy governance has been discussed:
March 8, 2007: To be posted
March 2, 2007: To be posted
February 9, 2007: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/February_9_2007_Minutes.pdf
February 2, 2007: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/February_2_2007_Minutes.pdf
December 12, 2006: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/December_12_2006_Minutes.pdf
December 2, 2006: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/December_2_2006_Minutes.pdf
December 1, 2006: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/December_1_2006_Minutes.pdf
November 30, 2006: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/November_30_2006_Minutes.pdf
September 22, 2006: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/September_22_2006_Minutes.pdf
July 24, 2006 Minutes: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/July_24_2006_Minutes.pdf
Other related documents that may be of interest:
Board president memo to all district employees on policy governance, March 9, 2007: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/Memo_to_Employees_3-9-07.pdf
Working document of comments received and board responses, updated March 9, 2007: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/March_9_2007_Working_Document.pdf
Board president statement on policy governance at first reading of policies, December 12, 2006: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/Board_President_Statement.pdf
Proposed policy governance policies currently awaiting approval:
Ends (1 policy): http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/Section_1_-_Proposed.pdf
Executive Limitations (10 policies): http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/Section_2_-_Proposed.pdf
Governance Process (10 policies): http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/Section_3_-_Proposed.pdf
Board-Superintendent Linkage (5 policies): http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/Section_4_-_Proposed.pdf
This site will be updated monthly, or more frequently as needed. Contact information for the Board of Directors is provided here if you wish to contact members of the board: http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Departments/bod/Board_Contact_Information.pdf
Thank you for your interest in the news of the Yakima School District Board of Directors.
Vickie Ybarra
President, Yakima School District Board of Directors
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