May 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM - Regular Board Business Meeting

Description: 

Kris Howatt, Chair
Holly Riegelmann, Vice-Chair
Blake Petersen, Director
David Ligatich, Director
Dr. Mayra Gómez, Director
Dr. Shawn Farrens, Director
Vacant, Director
John Koch, Interim Superintendent

Description: 

We acknowledge that the land where Gresham-Barlow School District is located rests on the ancestral and uncededlands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, bands of the Chinook, and many otherTribes who made their homes along the Columbia River. We also acknowledge the systemic policies of genocide,relocation, and assimilation that still impact many Indigenous/Native American families today. As settlers and guestson these lands we respect the work of Native Nations, leaders and families, and make ongoing efforts to centerIndigenous knowledge, creativity, resilience, and resistance. We consider the many legacies of violence, displacement,migration, and settlement that bring us here today. 
   
   
Reconocemos que la tierra donde está ubicado el Distrito Escolar Gresham-Barlow descansa sobre las tierrasancestrales y no cedidas de Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, bandas de Chinook ymuchas otras Tribus que establecieron sus hogares a lo largo del río Columbia. También reconocemos las políticassistémicas de genocidio, reubicación y asimilación que todavía afectan a muchas familias indígenas/nativasamericanas en la actualidad. Como colonos e invitados en estas tierras, respetamos el trabajo de las naciones, loslíderes y las familias nativas y hacemos esfuerzos continuos para centrar el conocimiento, la creatividad, la resilienciay la resistencia indígenas. Consideramos los numerosos legados de violencia, desplazamiento, migración yasentamiento que nos traen aquí hoy.

Description: 

3 minutes per guest / 15 minutes total

Time has been set aside on the agenda for Citizens’ Requests of the Board. This is an opportunity for the Board to listen and learn from the community. Board members are not able to respond to public comments during the meeting, but appreciate hearing your input. Public comments can be submitted in writing before the meeting, or given in-person during the meeting. Pursuant to Oregon House Bill 2560(3)(a), the meeting of the Gresham-Barlow School Board will be presented online to allow for virtual public attendance at the meeting. If you are a member of the community and wish to provide a written public comment, please use the Citizens Comments to the Board form and email your comments to the board secretary, Sarah Avery, at avery4@gresham.k12.or.us by 4:00 p.m. the day of the meeting. If anyone in the audience wishes to address the board in-person this evening, there are yellow "Citizens' Requests of the Board" forms on the table in the back of the room; please complete a form and give it to the board secretary, Mrs. Avery. 

Public Comments Submitted Including Topic:

1. Frank Twardoch - Salquist Road property owned by school district sale concerns
2. James Southwick - Proposed sale of Salquist Property
3. Kymberlee Lake - Serious Concerns Regarding Sale of GBSD-Owned Land
4. David J. Drake - Protecting Our Childrend's Future, Stop the Salquist Sale
5. David Hall - Kelly Creek Elementary School
6. Christine Michael - School District Sale of Land on Salquist Road
7. Thomas Eubanks - Salquist Sale violates District Policy, State Law, and the Oregon Constitution
8. Danielle Durham - Lack of Trust re: GBSD Property on Salquist Rd.
9. LeeAnne McAfee - Salquist property
10. Marjorie Mills Coleman - Kelly Creek Elementary School
11. Austin Henry - Salquist Property Sale
12. Bill Martin - Truth and Justice
13. Beth Twardoch - The sale of the District owned Salquist Property
14. Adrianna Price - Re: Sale of GBSD property on Salquist Road
15. Carol Rulla - Proposed Sale of Salquist Property

Description:  The District’s financial position remains consistent with overall projections for revenues and expenditures. An SSF adjustment occurred at the beginning of March that adjusted for ADMw, local revenue, and transportation expenditures. Charter school ADMw was increased based enrollment increases and higher than projected transportation costs were updated. As a result, the March 2025 SSF payment increased by $917 thousand and will see the same adjustments for the April and May payments. The 2022-23 fiscal year ODE reconciliation indicates that an additional $1.5 million will be received for SSF and High Cost Disability fund adjustments.
  
Expenditures continue to follow project trends with the exception of transportation and charter school payments. Increased ADMw in the charter schools increase the amount remitted by the District. Transportation expenditures stabilized in March but projections are that they will increase in the final months of the school year.
 

Description:  ORS 332.075(2)-(3), states that, "All contracts of the school district must be approved by the district school board before an order can be drawn for payment." This includes the provision of labor performed by employees of the district. In addition, Board Policy GB, General Personnel Policies, provides that, "The employment contract of candidates to fill licensed and contracted positions will be approved by the Board upon the superintendent’s recommendation."

Salary placement for licensed and administrator positions will follow the terms of the established collective bargaining agreement with the labor association and memorandum of understanding with the administrator group. These agreements are available on the District website.
 
PRESENTER: Dr. Angela Freeman
 
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS:  
1. Licensed New Hires for 2024-2025, Recommended for Hire
2. Administrator New Hires for 2025-2026, Recommended for Hire

 

Description: 

The administrative and specialist (formerly confidential) staff bargain their employment agreements through a "meet and confer" process. This results in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is signed by the parties. Accordingly, the district and the two groups engaged in the meet and confer process, and agreements were reached for both groups. 

The memoranda are included with this executive summary for board review and approval.

Note: The administrative group is formally called the Association of Gresham-Barlow School Administrators, or more commonly referred to as AGSA. 

The administration recommends ratification of the attached documents as presented.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS:

1. 2025-27 Memorandum of Understanding between Gresham-Barlow School District and the Association of Gresham-Barlow School Administrators
2. 2025-27 Memorandum of Understanding between Gresham-Barlow School District and Specialist (formerly Confidential) Staff Members 

Description: 

All items listed are matters considered by the board to be routine and will be enacted by one motion. The motion requires a second and a vote. There will be no separate discussion of items on the consent agenda unlessa member of the board requests specific items be removed from the consent agenda and placed on the regular agenda. 

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In an effort to recognize students who achieve highly in school activities and academic programs, tonight the Board has the opportunity to recognize conference and state level achievements of Sam Barlow High School culinary students.

Ten SkillsUSA students from Sam Barlow High School competed at the State Leadership and Skills Conference last weekend in Albany. The students prepared diligently to compete in a variety of career-skill events like carpentry and culinary arts.

Restaurant Service
5th place: Payton Devet
4th place: Sierra Kandt
3rd place: Ethan Quintero

Baking and Pastry Arts
5th place: Evelyn Bond
3rd place: Lizzy Wyatt
1st place: Payton Devet

Lizzy and Payton also earned scholarships to Oregon Coast Culinary Institute. As state champion, Payton is eligible to compete at the national level in Atlanta at the end of June.

Description:  In an effort to recognize students who achieve highly in school activities and academic programs, tonight the Board has the opportunity to recognize conference and state level achievements of Gresham High School Science students.

The following 11th grade students from Gresham High School earned 2nd place in Chemistry at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. They qualified to travel both to state at PSU and Nationals in Ohio.

• Luong Nguyen
• Ben Graham
• Jack Dillon

Their project about Acid Assisted Demolition can be viewed by clicking this link.

Description:  In an effort to recognize students who achieve highly in school activities and academic programs, tonight the Board has the opportunity to recognize the Sam Barlow High School DECA Students.

Around 25,000 DECA students from across the world participate and demonstrate their college and career knowledge and skills by participating in DECA's Competitive Events Program. This year, four students from Barlow traveled to Orlando to compete in this year's competition.

• Team of Cole Schmidt and Levi Riegelmann, Seniors
• Team of Jaidyn Worley and Sofia Potts, Seniors

Each of these students met competency, which means they met a minimum of 70% on overall scoring for their categories. Reaching competency is quite impressive at this level! Please join us in congratulating them for their accomplishments. 

Description: 

In an effort to recognize students who achieve highly in school activities and academic programs, tonight the Board has the opportunity to recognize achievements of Gresham High School artists. Several students submitted pieces of student art work to be evaluated and judged as part of the Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) Regional Annual High School Art Exhibition. The following students earned honors at the exhibition:

• Reed Carroll - 1st Place for Originality
• Logan Raupe - Honorable Mention
• Mylah Ardito - Honorable Mention

Description:  In an effort to recognize students who achieve highly in school activities and academic programs, tonight the Board has the opportunity to recognize conference and state level achievements of Gresham High School Speech and Debate students.

Gresham's Speech & Debate team participated in the Mt. Hood Conference Speech and Debate tournament and had several students place at the event. 

• Gabrielle Merg - 3rd Place in Radio
• Lilah Knapp - 3rd Place in Poetry
• Lizy Westbrook - 1st Place in Poetry, 1st Place in Point of Information (POI), and 3rd Place in Lincoln-Douglas Debate

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Time has been set-aside on this agenda for the superintendent to provide a brief update. District leadership members may also provide an overview of current work and upcoming events taking place in the schooldistrict.

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Time has been set-aside on this agenda for the board members to provide brief updates. 

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In compliance with ORS 338.095 (2), the Center for Advanced Learning (CAL) must submit a report to the district and the State Board of Education each year on the performance of the school and its students in the preceding fiscal/school year. This report must include, among other things, information regarding the goals and assessments relating to student performance, and a look forward at the school year ahead. 

Representatives from CAL Staff will be at the board meeting to present their report.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: 1. Center for Advanced Learning (CAL) Annual Report to the Board   

Description:  Community member Thomas Eubanks submitted a request for the board to review policy regarding the sale of the Salquist Road property. Time has been set aside on the agenda for Mr. Eubanks to provide information on this topic.

Description:  The board will take a brief recess from the meeting. 

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This portion of the board meeting agenda has been provided for the presentation of advisory committee minutes. No action or discussion is required by the board; however, there may be occasional reports or discussion regarding work being completed by the committee(s).

Description: 

This portion of the board meeting agenda has been provided for the presentation of advisory committee minutes. No action or discussion is required by the board; however, there may be occasional reports or discussion regarding work being completed by the committee(s).

Description:  This portion of the board meeting agenda has been provided for the presentation of advisory committee minutes. No action or discussion is required by the board; however, there may be occasional reports or discussion regarding work being completed by the committee(s).

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A representative from the Gresham-Barlow Education Association (GBEA) will provide a report to the board. 

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A representative from the Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA) Chapter 8 employees willprovide a report to the board. 

Description:  This information was presented to the board for a first reading at their April 16, 2025 Board Work Session.

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) reviewed instructional materials in 2024 and formally recommended materials to meet the needs of the district's health classrooms. The materials currently being used are in need of an update and the health adoption process is not scheduled to take place again until 2031. 

Beginning in October of 2024, the elementary team met and decided to adopt the single ODE-approved elementary curriculum, The Great Body Shop.

The Great Body Shop is the curriculum we are currently using. A team of 12, including teachers and coaches, reviewed the Oregon Health standards and The Great Body Shop Curriculum. The team determined to continue with The Great Body Shop curriculum. The Great Body Shop is available in Spanish, and our teachers, students, and community interviewees are familiar with and like the materials. 

If authorized to move forward with the adoption of these materials as the district’s primary resources for Health instruction, they will be in all elementary school classrooms for implementation in the Fall of 2025. Professional development will be scheduled for the 2025-2026 school year.

The board is being asked to consider the cost of Health Adoption materials up to $300,000.

Description: 

This information was presented to the board for a first reading at their April 16, 2025 Board Work Session.

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) reviewed instructional materials in 2024 and formally recommended materials to meet the needs of the district's health classrooms. The materials currently being used are in need of an update and the health adoption process is not scheduled to take place again until 2031. 

Beginning in October of 2024, a committee of teachers, administrators, and coaches spent multiple sessions evaluating health curriculum resources from the ODE-approved list. The committee looked at specific criteria and used evaluation tools designed specifically for evaluating the alignment of materials to the health standards and proficiency expectations. Parents and students were offered multiple opportunities to review the materials and provide feedback.

Final committee recommendations will be provided in addition to cost estimates for the proposed health adoption materials.

If authorized to move forward with the adoption of these materials as the district’s primary resources for health instruction, they will be in classrooms for implementation in the fall of 2025.

The board is being asked to consider the cost of Health Adoption materials as follows:

• Human Kinetics (High School) - $98,832
• Goodheart-Willcox (Middle School) - $109,747
• Grant total including estimated shipping costs at a not-to-exceed amount of $244,255

Description: 

The Gresham-Barlow School District (GBSD) is seeking $118,762.22 from the Mt Hood Cable Regulatory Commission (MHCRC) to address a lack of access to video equipment and training for a substantial portion of their student population, including a majority of BIPOC students and a large percentage from low-income backgrounds. This grant will fund professional-quality video production equipment, such as iPads, cameras, and studio gear, for three middle schools: Dexter McCarty, Gordon Russell, and West Orient. The project aims to provide equitable opportunities for approximately 160 students annually to develop crucial 21st-century media skills, enabling them to create around 150 videos each year.

The success of this $118,762.22 investment will be measured by surveying students on their improved understanding of video production, with a target of over 70% showing progress, and by tracking the creation of approximately 150 videos for broadcast. This initiative involves a strong partnership with MetroEast Community Media, which is contributing $12,000 in in-kind training and technical support. GBSD is also demonstrating a significant commitment with an in-kind match of $156,329.91 through teacher and volunteer time. This collaborative project aims to provide lasting benefits, equipping students with vital media literacy and production skills.

The administration has applied for the grant, and the MHCRC Board will be voting to approve the grant on May 15th. Because of the size and scope of this grant, we are requesting Board approval.

Description:  The District posted an advertisement for sealed bids for the sale of three portable classroom buildings housed on the Springwater Trail High School Campus. One bid was received and accepted in the amount of $200,001 from the Damascus Christian School. The date for the three buildings to be removed is July 31, 2025.
 

Description:  The title of this annual agenda item can be misleading. This process is a federal requirement from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and it requires the District to prove that the amount the federal government reimburses for meals is "equitable" to the amount paid by families that do not qualify for federal assistance. 

As required by the USDA, all local education agencies (LEAs), regardless of current lunch prices, must annually review paid lunch prices to ensure compliance. The USDA provides a tool to determine compliance called the Paid Lunch Equity Tool. This requirement is in effect to ensure USDA funds are not subsidizing paid lunch amounts. 

The LEA is considered noncompliant when the average paid lunch price is less than the difference between the free and paid federal reimbursement rates.  If the weighted average paid lunch price is less than that amount, LEAs must take action. The district has three options:                                   

1. Increase paid lunch prices, or
2. Contribute non-Federal funds to the food service account, or
3. Increase the paid lunch by a smaller amount and contribute the remaining amount using non-Federal funds.

The memo stipulates that a one-year exemption may take place if a School Food Authority has a positive balance as of June 30, 2024.
 
The Nutrition Services Fund does have a positive balance, so the district is once again exempt from this requirement. However, over the past few years, the aforementioned gap has grown, while our lunch prices have not. If the legal basis for exemption goes away, it would become necessary to increase prices sharply.
 
Staff do not recommend increasing prices for 2025-26, as all meals have been free for all schools through the CEP program.  Should proposed federal changes to the CEP program take place, the District will need to reevaluate meal pricing.

This has been provided as information only. Board action is not requested or recommended, at this time. 

Description: 

The board will review announcements. A Zoom link for virtual meeting attendance will be provided for upcoming meetings.

May 21, 2025: Board Work Session - 6 p.m.
                        Partnership Room
                        Center for Advanced Learning

June 4, 2025:  Budget Hearing - 6:45 p.m.
                        Council Chambers
                        Public Safety and Schools Building

June 4, 2025:  Regular Board Business Meeting - 7 p.m.
                        Council Chambers
                        Public Safety and Schools Building

Description:  Estimated time for adjournment: No later than 9 p.m.