Board Report for June 5, 2024 - Gresham-Barlow School District

June 5, 2024 Meeting

Board Members Present: Chair Kris Howatt, Shawn Farrens, Mayra Gómez, Cathy Keathley, David Ligatich, and Holly Riegelmann

Recognitions

State Seal of Biliteracy Recognitions

The school board recognized graduating seniors who have met the Oregon State Biliteracy Seal proficiency level criteria of Intermediate-High. The students passed a rigorous language assessment testing their listening, speaking, reading and writing. These students will receive the Biliteracy Seal on their diplomas. This school year the District has increased its seal recipients by 13 students.

View a complete list of names

Gresham High School Choir

The school board honored Gresham High School (GHS) Choir students who competed in the OSAA Solo Competition. in April. We also congratulate Choir Director Janine Kirstein for her dedication to the vocal program at GHS. Ms. Kirstein is retiring at the end of the school year. OSAA State Solo and Small Ensemble Championships: Maggie Zelinka - 3rd Place, Alto Voice; Peter Nedelisky - 4th Place, Bass Voice; Zero Fuentes - 4th Place, Mezzo-Soprano; Terry Munoz - 4th Place, Baritone Voice; Sean Strojan - 5th Place, Baritone Voice. The small ensemble group composed of Alex Bigham, Reese Kahn, Ben Kowalker, Jack Lewis, Elliott Maxwell, Robin Moran, Peter Nedelisky, and Sean Strojan placed second at the OMEA State Chamber Competition

Gresham High School Theater

The school board recognized Gresham High School Theater students who participated in the State Thespian Festival, where they competed in the freestyle one-act category and earned a superior rating and state champion status for their production of “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Fifth Period.” Student performers: Robin Moran (Director), Michael Nedelisky, Morgan Israelsson, Maggie Zelinka, Shawn Highfield, Titan Bowers, Alivia Porter, Winter Wolf, Isaiah Mendivil, Solandae Delcid, Liam Hamilton, Kyndra Eggleston, and Lyric Pearse.

Gresham High School Girls Track and Field

The school board honored students from the Gresham High School Girls Track and Field Athletes. At the Mount Hood Conference Track and Field competition, Ava Hanson was named shotput champion, and Alithia Lam Tiang was named the discus champion. The Mount Hood Conference recognized the Gresham High School Girls coaching staff as the Coaching Staff of the Year. Congratulations to Tim Mowery, Sara Miller, Scott Halley, Taylor Ramirez, Nolan Scott, Melissa Smith, Jeff Dukleth, and Victor Homsanith for this achievement. Kudos also go out to Alithia Lam Tiang for placing 3rd in the shot put and 4th in discus at state, and Ava Hanson, who placed 6th in the shot put.

Sam Barlow High School Band

The school board recognized SBHS student Sam Brown for placing 3rd at the OSAA State Solo Competition with his tuba performance. Congratulations to Sam and to Director Paul Nickolas for his continued dedication to the Band program.

Sam Barlow High School Baseball

The school board honored the SBHS baseball team for finishing first in the Mt. Hood Conference (for the first time since 2013) and entered the playoffs as the #11 ranked team in the state. The Mount Hood Conference also recognized Baseball Coach Brady Burdick as the MHC Coach of the Year.

Sam Barlow High School Choir

The school board recognized students from the SBHS choir program who participated in the OSAA State Solo Competition. Camden Schroeder placed 1st in the Bass Vocal category. Congratulations to Camden and to Director Amber Schroeder for her continued dedication to the choir program.

Sam Barlow High School Boys Tennis

The school board honored the SBHS boys tennis team for finishing second in the Mt. Hood Conference at the district tennis tournament. Doubles partners Hayden De La Cruz and Ty Stump were Mt. Hood Conference champions and represented Barlow at the state tournament.

Sam Barlow High School Girls Tennis

The school board honored the SBHS girls’ tennis team for finishing second in the Mt. Hood Conference at the district tennis tournament. The doubles team of Gianna Molony and Lizzy Weber were conference champions and represented Barlow at the state tournament

Sam Barlow High School Theater

The school board recognized SBHS students who competed at the Mt. Hood Conference annual acting competition. Students: Alissa Cohen - 1st Place - Solo Acting and Bella Gilmour and Ethan Thompson - 1st Place - Duo Acting. We also thank theater teacher Jeff Schroeder for his continued support of the theater program.

Sam Barlow High School Track and Field

The school board honored SBHS students who competed at the Mt. Hood Conference Track and Field Competition. Students: Giovanni Bogarin, 200 Meters and 400 Meters, 4x400m Relay: Trevor Sippel, Clay Swift, Matty Callison, Sentori Martino and Caleb Perry, Javelin. At the state track meet, Giovanni Bogarin placed 4th in the 400 Meters, and Caleb Perry placed 4th in the Javelin.

Sam Barlow High School Art

The school board recognized students who placed at the Mount Hood Community College annual art exhibition for all East County schools. SBHS junior Melina Tucker earned first place for composition and senior, Isabella Hernandez Espino, earned first place honors in technical skill. Art teacher Amanda Gibson should also be recognized for her continued dedication to promoting visual arts at Sam Barlow High School.

Sam Barlow High School Science Students

The school board honored students Keely Rezvani, Bryson Lindley, and North Nadeau for placing second at the GBSD Science Expo. Their research project was on microbiology. The students went on to compete at the Northwest Regional Expo in Los Angeles, California. They competed against 1,700 students from the US and around the world. Many thanks to science TOSA Stephen Scannell for his long-time commitment to scientific inquiry and academic competition.

Gresham-Barlow School District Energy Star Award

The school board recognized the Gresham-Barlow School District for receiving the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award from the Environmental Protection Agency for 2024. Congratulations to Facilities Director Terry Taylor and Assistant Director Alan Crapser. This is a prestigious award that takes considerable commitment in terms of management, capital improvement, and long-range planning.

LGBTQ2SIA+ Pride Month

The school board passed a resolution in honor of LGBTQ2SIA+ Pride Month, which celebrates the contributions of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community to our society and collective history.

View the Pride Month Resolution

Gresham-Barlow teacher honored by Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics

The school board recognized elementary math instructional coach David Breese for being recognized as an outstanding contributor to the mathematics community of Oregon by the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics (OCTM). Mr. Breese is OCTM's Area Recognition for Multnomah County award recipient.

Superintendent and District Leadership Team Update

Superintendent Hiu thanked East Hill Church for its generous donation for the District’s homeless students. He also shared that he recently met with Governor Kotek to advocate for sufficient funding for K-12 education in the next biennium. Superintendent Hiu announced that GBSD staff member Amanda Jones has been appointed to the position of program director in the Student Support Services Department. She will start her new role July 1.

Superintendent Hiu shared that concerns have been brought forth against the school district that allege bond fraud and assert claims of the school district refusing to follow its own policies. He shared that our community passed the historic $291 million capital improvement bond in 2016 and the District has and continues to be a good steward of our community’s resources. In addition, an additional $52 million dollars have been reinvested into our community which we received as bond investment proceeds. With such a significant financial investment from our community, the school board directed district leadership to have a bond oversight committee made up of community members to oversee the bond process over the last several years. The District had its books audited each year by an independent auditor and hired an owner’s representative, Cornerstone Management, to oversee the bond. The District also obtained approvals for expenditures associated with bond projects in public meetings with the board.

Citizens’ Requests of the Board

Parent Greg Klepper requested that school resource officers be reinstated at Gresham High School.

French teacher Laurie Kopperman shared her opposition to cuts to the French program at Sam Barlow High School.

A student from Sam Barlow High School shared why he is concerned about the French program being eliminated.

Teacher Tracey Jackson shared her concerns regarding the special education program at Hall Elementary School.

Teacher Kathryn Unger shared her concerns regarding school board policy BDDH Public Comment at Board Meetings.

Teacher Bill Martin shared that he believes there was school bond fraud and waste at Sam Barlow High School.

Teacher Laura Martin shared that she believes there was school bond fraud and waste at Sam Barlow High School.

Multiple students from Gresham High School shared their safety concerns.

Presentations

Don’t Oppress Youth Success

The school board heard a presentation by students from Gresham High School about the "Don't Oppress Youth Success" project. The community change project was led by student Kim Cortes-Martinez, who was named a 2023 Bezos Scholar. The Bezos Scholars Program is a yearlong leadership development program that helps young people make a difference.

REVIEWED, date, time, and place of 2024-25 board meetings

Action will take place at a subsequent meeting.

APPROVED, the recommended alternative education programs for 2024-25 as presented

APPROVED, ratifying Resolution 2025-01 to adopt the budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year in the total amount of $275,351,735 now on file at the district’s administrative business office

APPROVED, ratifying Resolution 2025-02 to appropriate funds in the amount and purposes as outlined in the resolution for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024

APPROVED, ratify Resolution 2025-03 to impose the taxes provided for the adopted budget at the Permanent Rate of $4.5268 per $1,000 of assessed value for General Fund operations; and, to impose taxes in the amount of $23,055,316 for bonded debt; making these taxes hereby imposed and categorized for the tax year 2024-2025 upon the assessed value of all taxable property within the District

APPROVED, the purchase of networking equipment with a not-to-exceed amount of $672,009.37 and low voltage installation and configuration services with a not-to-exceed amount of $160,585

APPROVED, the contracts for TK Elevator Corporation for the repair and part replacement for the elevators located at Gresham High School and West Gresham Elementary School in the amounts of $132,970.40 and $144,184.36, respectively

APPROVED, the contracts for the 2024-25 kitchen improvement project with 2KG Contractors, Inc. in the amount of $1,214,000

APPROVED, resolution number 2024-09 to transfer budget appropriations as presented in the resolution

Information Items

Monthly Financial Update of 04/30/2024

There has been quite a bit of activity since the last report, most of which is related to the State's 2022-2023 State School Fund reconciliation process. The prior year's adjustment for the district's revenue was $2.4 million (recognized on the revenue side of the report).

These gains were partially offset by facility maintenance costs due to the January 2024 ice storm, licensed salary costs, and transportation expenditures higher than previously projected. The expenses for the ice storm are currently recorded in the General Fund and have been submitted to our insurance carrier and FEMA for reimbursement. Those revenues will be recorded in the 2024-25 fiscal year. An increase in athletic and activity expenditures due to successful programs and more field trips post-pandemic have exceeded projections. As a quick reminder, 70% of these costs will be reimbursed next year. The salary costs are due to a reduction in attrition this spring, as compared to prior years. Overall, the aggregate salary and benefits costs are still right on budget; we are just not experiencing the level of savings we previously projected. This is a good thing, as it means students are receiving a higher level of service.

The net effect of all of these changes is a fund balance projection $1.3 million higher than previously reported, and $2.1 million higher than budgeted for 2023-2024.

View the 04/30/2024 Financial Report

Out-of-State Travel Report

The administration reported to the school board the out-of-state trips approved for Gresham-Barlow School since January 2024

View the list of out-of-state trips

Upcoming Meetings

June 18, 2024
Board Work Session
6 pm
Center for Advanced Learning-Partnership Room

July 3, 2024
Board Meeting
7 pm
District Office

Can't Attend Board Meetings?

You can watch regular school board meetings LIVE on the GBSD Website. Look for the link on the homepage in the District News section!

You can also watch regular school board meetings LIVE on Comcast cable channel 27 and Frontier cable channel 35. MetroEast Community Media replays the board meeting at the following times:

Second Showing-Monday at 7 pm.

Third Showing-The following Thursday at 4 pm.

If you live in Damascus-

Board meetings are shown on Willamette Falls TV for patrons in the Damascus area. They are scheduled for cablecast on channel 23 every Saturday at 1 pm.