The Edmonds School Board’s Dec. 12 meeting included the honoring of newly elected and retiring board members.

Hawk Cramer, who ran unopposed to replace retiring Director Gary Noble, and reelected Directors Carin Chase and Nancy Katims took their oaths of office. The board also nominated and voted on board offices. Nancy Katims was nominated and voted in to return as board president, with Deborah Kilgore returning as vice president and Carin Chase as legislative representative.

At the end of the evening, the district said farewell to Noble, who is leaving after 20 years of board service.

“Since this is my last board meeting after 20 years, I just wanted to thank the voters who put their trust in me [and] allowed me to win five primaries and five general elections,” Noble said. 

During the last two decades, Noble has worked with five superintendents and 16 different board members, has attended over a thousand meetings, and approved the spending of several billion dollars. 

Noble said one of the things he was proud of was the modernization of the schools. He explained that when he first started as a director in 2003, most of the schools were already approaching 40 years old. During his term, the board has replaced eight schools, with another nine in the planning stage with an approved bond to improve more.

“Another thing I’m proud of is our support for the increasing diversity in our district,” Noble continued. “We’ve embraced growth as an opportunity and have created what I consider one of the most diverse and culturally rich communities in the state.” 

Noble thanked his colleagues on the board and stated that he genuinely believed the reason they worked so well together was because they used the standard filter of “what’s best for kids.”

Further, Noble and his fellow board members will receive a certificate for serving on a Board of Distinction from the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA). 

The Edmonds School Board was one of 34 school districts out of almost 300 boards across Washington State to receive this honor.

“I want to thank you. It’s been my honor to serve you,” Noble said.

In other business, Executive Director of Business and Finance Lydia Sellie presented the budget report for October 2023. The report gives the monthly budget status of the following funds: general fund, capital projects fund , debt service fund, associated student body fund and transportation vehicle fund.

Sellie explained that when she wrote the report, she noted that the general fund’s end balance was $5.7 million below that of October 2022, with a negative capital projects revenue. 

“It’s an accrual back to last year, so that number really should say $4.8 (million), and that will be corrected shortly for the rest of this year,” Sellie said. 

The capital projects fund  revenue budget shows about $306.7 million, which includes capacity in case the bond is successful. The district would sell some of those bonds before the fiscal year concludes at the end of August.

School buses ordered in the 2022-23 school year were late, and the district recently received the final three buses. Sellie said the buses had been paid for and would appear on this year’s financial report. However, there is no plan to use all the expenditure capacity this year, so the late delivery will not cause any issues.

In the general fund financial summary, Sellie explained that comparing a local non-tax budget to the current date is challenging because when looking at last year’s budget, one can see the entire year’s collections, making it appear “a little bit skewed.” 

Local non-tax includes a contingency budget for revenues and expenditures are “exactly equal.” This allows the district to accept and receive local grants that were not anticipated at the time of the budget adoption.

Sellie said the federal revenues currently look negative because of the accrual process through the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). However, she assured the board that it was usual for the time of year. 

“What is a little unusual” is that this was also done for the capital projects transfers, which will be corrected by the end of this calendar year, she said.

Sellie said the district’s top 10 sources of revenue are over 100%, but that will report correctly when federal revenues and the technology transfer are completed for this fiscal year.

The green line labeled “Prior Year Three” on the October general fund month-end balance report, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds (ESSER), are pandemic relief funds that historically don’t increase in August because of the timing of when revenues and expenditure revenues come in, and when expenditures go out.

Since ESSER funding is dwindling with the end of the pandemic, Sellie said the board should expect the August line to flatten out to pre-pandemic type numbers.

Sellie then shared what she called “some great news.” 

Referring to the comparative full-time equivalent (FTE) slide, she said enrollment is up compared to October 2022, with almost 19,400 students in 2023 compared to slightly over 19,100 students in 2022.

The board also heard from District Athletic Director Angie McGuire, who recognized some Edmonds School District high school athletes at Tuesday’s meeting for All-Wesco and  All-State achievements.

The students recognized were:

Edmonds-Woodway High School:

Diego Escandon – Football

Simone Bennett – Swimming

Meadowdale High School: 

John Patterson – Cross Country

Rachel Reitz – Soccer

Mountlake Terrace High School: 

Zaveon Jones – Football

Natalie Cardin – Soccer

Lynnwood High School: 

Victor Alvarez – Football

The Lynnwood High School girls volleyball team was undefeated throughout the Wesco and District 1 championships. Further, they came in third at the 3A State Tournament in Yakima, the highest placing in Edmonds School District history.

Members of the Lynnwood High School Volleyball Team include:

Olivia Dahl

Evangeline Sum

Abbie Orr

Paige Gessey

Ady Morgan

Jordyn Higa

Taryn Dillon

Charlie Thomas

Audrey Williams

Adia Weighter

Harmony Johnson

Hannah Johnson

Makena Kaleo

Sammy Holmer

Also during the meeting, Board President Katims provided an update on the state funding advocacy campaign she has been working on with Edmonds Education Association President Andi Nofziger. The campaign encourages school district constituents to write to their legislators to support a letter that was recently sent to all the legislators, the governor, and the OSPI, co-signed by school board presidents and local WEA Presidents from 18 districts statewide. You can read the letter here.

Items approved during the Dec. 12 meeting included  a second reading of  a new board policy for infection control, phase 2 of construction for Spruce Elementary School, and the contract award to Security Solutions to purchase and install intrusion control and detection systems.

Also approved was the contract with the Progressive Design-build Team for the Mountlake Terrace High School heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) replacement project. It will cost $10 million, including design, construction and permits and was covered by the 2021 levy.

Director Keith Smith pointed out that Mountlake Terrace High is one of the older schools in the district and that an overhaul may be in its future.

Another board policy discussion – changing verbiage from “emergency expulsion” to “emergency removal” – will move to a second reading at the Jan. 9, 2024, meeting.

Director Deborah Kilgore asked if being expelled, regardless of the wording, goes on the student’s scholastic record.

Assistant Superintendent Greg Schwab explained that the expulsion is still on the student’s record but is not a public record.

The board’s Legislative Report was rescheduled to the Jan. 9 meeting.

The  Jan. 9 board meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Educational Services Center, 20420 68th Ave. W., Lynnwood. You can watch the meeting online by clicking here.

To view the meeting agenda, click here.

— By Rick Sinnett