July 10, 2023 at 6:00 PM - Regular Monthly Meeting of the KFCS Board of Education

Description:  Call to order at 6:00 p.m.

Description:  New Elected Board Members Andrea Jensen and Andrew Biggs, Relected board members, Trina Perez and Kathy Hewitt

Oath of Office

I, Andrew Biggs, Andrea Jensen, Trina Perez, and Kathy Hewitt,do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the state of Oregon and the laws thereof, and the policies of the Klamath Falls City School District. During my term, I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the Office of School Board Member to the best of my ability.

Description:  All members present

Description:  The board welcomes you to its monthly meeting.  Public input is welcome and encouraged during the Public Comment segment of this meeting. 

All those wishing to address the board have previously submitted their comments electronically or have submitted a  Request to Speak form prior to the start of this meeting.  Only those items on the agenda may be addressed during public comment.  Three (3) minutes is allotted for each individual speaker, with a total of fifteen (15) total minutes for this segment of the agenda.  

Public Comments are as follows:
Brock Trejo- I support adopting Core Knowledge over Wonders. Phonics and knowledge-building curriculum is a superior choice.

Sam Stewart- I oppose any curriculum that encourages three-cueing and guessing. I fully support the curriculum of Core Knowledge over Wonders. Our children need to learn how to structure words grammatically and phonetically and not simply guess at what they feel is the right word. Three-cueing and any associated curriculum such as Wonders will only hurt the children and their reading skills. There are many current studies that show three-cueing basically teaches readers to read like poor readers. Three-cueing is not only unproductive but counterproductive. Our children deserve better. Please do not approve Wonders or any similar curriculum. Stand up for better academics and a brighter future for the kids.

Sarah Williams - It seems to me, the Core Knowledge curriculum is superior to the Wonders curriculum in teaching children to read. There is much data to back that up. Additionally, my personal experience supports it as well. My two daughters attended a preschool (Juncos and Junipers) that makes use of phonics in learning to read. I now have a graduated second grader at Roosevelt School, who, I am proud to say, is an excellent reader, in part because of that base. I also have an incoming kindergartner who already knows how to sound out simple words because of her time in preschool. She is a proud reader! My wish is that they can continue to grow their reading skills in the phonics-based curriculum offered by Core Knowledge. Please adopt this curricula over Wonders.

Don MAUSSHARDT- This statement will be given by Don Mausshardt which was prepared by Connie Mausshardt.  Connie is under the care of Hospice.  Her resume is as follows: She received two degrees in Education at the following Universities:  BA at the University of Nevada, Reno and a Master's of Science from Marymount University (Virginia) in Special Education for Gifted and Talented and Learning Disability.  Her thesis was on the "Social Side of Learning Disabilities".  Connie spent 17 years teaching both in Oregon and Virginia.  Her experience was primarily focused on the Woodcock - Johnson tests for evaluating students.

During her classroom experiences, she observed that as soon as the student understood the application of phonics and was able to read not only did the student's world open and their comprehension allowed the student to participate in mainstream programs.  During her tenure, she experienced an increase of 80 to 90 percent improvement in student performance and success each year.  Several of her students went on to college and graduated each year on schedule.  Her key to success was getting the students to understand phonics.
Her school was Louise Archer Elementary School, a minority founded where her students excelled due to their school environment.

When Connie was told about the "Wonders" program she was appalled that it would involve a guessing process to teach the student to read and comprehend the meaning of words. Her comment was: "why would you want to replace phonics with an unproven experimental program"?
Respectfully submitted, Don Mausshardt

Nell Scott- I am writing to provide public comment on the adoption of a new reading curriculum for the City Schools. I would like to express a strong preference for the Core Knowledge curriculum over the Wonders curriculum. Reading instruction based on phonics and sounding out words has been proven to actually teach kids to read and decode words, whereas instruction based on three-cueing and guessing words just leaves kids stuck when the words get harder and the pictures disappear.
Kids in Klamath Falls already have the deck stacked against them. Poverty, drug use, and generational trauma make it so that a lot of kids don't have families that have the extra time and skill to provide education beyond the school day. The public school system has to take on the responsibility of teaching kids to read, not just to guess words. When kids know how to read, they can devour information in the world around them, and fall in love with learning. When reading is frustrating, they'll just avoid it as much as possible.
My daughter will be in kindergarten soon, and if she's learning three-cueing at school, her dad and I will be teaching her phonics at home to make sure she's a confident reader. I know most kids don't have this luxury and privilege, so I encourage you to choose the curriculum that gives every kid an equal chance of success and a leg up. Thank you for taking the time to consider this important decision and accept public comment.

Carrie Anne Wilcox- Greeting, I am concerned with the proposed language arts curriculum adoption. I am an educator that is trained in working with dyslexic students. I want to make sure the board and community are aware of Oregon law on teaching and screening dyslexic students OAR 581-002-1800
I am questioning if this curriculum has a strong phonetics component to meet the need of all students. Yale Center on dyslexia has found that 20% of students need to be taught using explicit, systematic approach to teaching reading.
Secondly, the county school district has also adopted a new reading curriculum that is aligned with the Science of Reading. Many students in the community will transfer between the school districts during their time in school here. Wouldn’t it be wise to have curriculums that are aligned with each other.
From my personal experience, I have found that many educators are not taught how to teach reading effectively. Oregon's test scores in reading are dismal. It is not the amount time given in reading instruction but the quality of reading that is fundamental to growing strong readers.
It is my sincere hope that you will reconsider the Wonders Curriculum and adopt a curriculum that aligns with the Science of Reading and current research on best teaching practices.
Thank you for your time!
I have included websites of Oregon's law on dyslexia and Yale Center for Dyslexia.  
https://www.oregon.gov/ode/students-and-family/specialeducation/regprograms_bestpractice/pages/dyslexia.aspx
https://dyslexia.yale.edu/dyslexia/dyslexia-faq/

Jill Nelson- As a parent of three children in Klamath Falls, I wish to be heard and to make known the importance of literacy in our schools.
I oppose any curriculum that includes three-cueing. I support adopting Core Knowledge over Wonders. I believe that a phonics and knowledge-building curriculum is a better choice than a curriculum that encourages students to guess at words.
Thank you for listening to my voice.

Alycia Kersey- I will offer oral remarks on the downsides of three cueing, the requirement by law that districts allow public comment in choosing curriculum, and attendance.

Melissa Mathews- I oppose any curriculum that uses three-cueing methods.  I support choosing curriculum based in phonics. Please choose Core Knowledge curriculum.

Glenn Gailis- typed letter, please read

Bonnie Kelley- hand written letter, please read

Amy Stercho- In 1997, I graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Elementary Education.  The Language Arts philosophy that we were taught was "whole language", which is similar to Wonders in that it is based on reading to children, having them memorize, and use three-cueing.  Phonics instructions was deeply frowned upon.
In 2001, I began working in Montessori preschools and Kindergartens and the four and five year olds were reading!  They were taught to read using phonemic awareness and phonics.  And it worked.  
So I went back to school and completed my Montessori Teacher Training. I was taught how to teach children how to read.
Wonders has some good points but all of those are strongly overshadowed by the fact that young children need a strong foundation in phonics to learn to read.  
Helping children learn to read is truly one of the greatest joys in my life.  I co-own a preschool in Klamath and teach children that words are made of individual sounds and there are letter shapes that represent these sounds and we can blend them to make words.  
When children are taught the science of reading and sound out and blend their first words, when they first decode "cat", the wonder on their faces is magical.  That day, that moment, their lives are forever changed.
Our world is filled with the written language.  In Klamath, 76% of fourth graders are not proficient readers, thus don't have a clear understanding of their world, because the curriculum we use, similar to Wonders, does not teach them to read.  It teaches them to guess.  
When children are taught the science of reading, when they are taught to decode, when the mystery of words becomes the magic of understanding, something beautiful happens and every child deserves this.  Please vote against Wonders.

Charles Riley- I am concerned about the reading proficiency of students in the KFCS system. I am a professor of civil engineering at Oregon Tech and have experience with crafting/adopting/evaluating curricula and engaging my community around curricular change. I am active in engineering education research in writing instruction. Having been made aware of the consideration and adoption of a new/updated reading curriculum for KFCS, I feel compelled to weigh in.
As an instructor myself, I understand the challenges of selecting curriculum that will apply to many different instructors with different backgrounds, talents, and tendencies. I enjoy engaging my peers and I enjoy building communities of practice around education. I trust that the community of instructors in KFCS are similar. I also know change is hard, as is admitting a past approach has less value than one I discovered later in my career. But, I find this to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching: constant improvement on behalf of my students.
As I understand the current decision, KFCS is working to adopt the Wonders curriculum, which has historically used a balanced literacy approach. I see that Wonders is adding more phonics in its current version, released in 2021, but I have real concerns after reading literature related to balanced literacy and the practice of three-cueing in particular. The available research is very robust to support structured literacy and strong phonics instruction rather than three-cueing. As I see it, three-cueing is an approach a student would take anyway, trying to find context and relate to other cues, whereas phonics is concrete instruction that students can use to interpret any word, regardless of context.
Regardless of the choice of curriculum, I hope KFCS will support their teachers in implementing best practices (structured literacy and phonics) in place of failed approaches (three-cueing/guessing).



 

Description:  The floor is now open for nominations for the position of KFCS Board of Education Chair for the 2023-2024 school year.  All nominees must accept or reject their nominations.
*************************************************************************************
Seeing no other nominees, the nominations are now closed.
*************************************************************************************
I will now call for the vote.
*************************************************************************************

Description:  The floor is now open for nominations for the position of KFCS Board of Education Vice Chair for the 2023-2024 school year.  All nominees must accept or reject their nominations.
*************************************************************************************
Seeing no other nominees, the nominations are now closed.
*************************************************************************************
I will now call for the vote.
*************************************************************************************

Description:  Approval of Previous months board meeting minutes

Description:  Approval of Current Agenda

Description: 
BACKGROUND

EFA-AR - Local Wellness Program ~ Delete

JGAB - Use of Restraint or Seclusion ~ adds language regarding prohibiting the use of a seclusion cell and defines what that is.  The district identifies what training program will be used for restraint or seclusion.

IK- Academic Achievement ~ language has been revised to align with OAR 581-022-2270

IKF- Graduation Requirements ~ There have been additional changes to graduation requirements in Oregon as a result of Senate Bill 1522 (2022).  The bill provided a new definition for "an educational program in this state" and modified what credits the district shall accept from other education programs in this state to satisfy credit requirements for a student to graduate.  An additional change modified the definition of "world language" in graduation requirements to include sign language, heritage language and languages other than the student's primary language.

IGDJ-Interscholastic Activities ~ redesigned to comply with OAR 581-022-2308 (2), a new Division 22 rule requiring school districts to policy with conditions of membership when entering into an agreement with a voluntary organization for interscholastic activites.  
Senate Bill 1522 modified the use of the term general education development or GED to be referred to as a "high school equivalency program" and further defined it.

IGBBA- Talented and Gifted Students- Identification** ~ additional rule changes for talented and gifted programs.

IGBAF-AR-Special Education- Individualized Education Program (IEP)** ~~A new section, Individualized COVID-19 Recovery Services, was added describing the district's responsibilities and outlining notification requirements. Does not require board vote, being provided as information only.

IGBB- Talented and Gifted Program and/or Services** ~~ revise and update TAG policies and AR, using KL for complaints

CBC-Superintendent's Contract ~~ With passage of SB 1521, there are new provisions in law to consider when issuing a superintendent's contract, updated

BBBA- Board Member Qualifications ~~ revisions made to better align with the criteria stated in statute and in the Oregon Constitute to be an elector for a member of a school board.

GCQB- Research ~~New policy for KFCS regarding research

IGBBA-AR - Appeal Procedure for Talented and Gifted Student Identification and Placement**  ~~ reduces number of policies regarding additional changes passed. Does not require board vote, being provided as information only.

GCAA- Standards for Competent and Ethical Performance of Oregon Educators ~~ New KFCS policy:  the definition of "sexual conduct" in OAR 584-020-0005 changed to be consistent with the definition in ORS 339.370 (11).

GCDA/GDDA-AR Criminal Records Checks and Fingerprinting~~ House Bill 4030 (2022) modifies fingerprinting requirements for persons seeking employment in schools and now makes a temporary exception to allow the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to waive fingerprinting requirements if ODE determines the person has:
• Submitted to a criminal records check for the person’s immediately previous employer, the employer is a school district or private school and the person has not lived outside this state between the two periods of employment;
• Submitted to a criminal records check conducted by TSPC within the previous three years; or
• Remained continuously licensed or registered with the commission.
This is a temporary change and sunsets July 1, 2024. 
Does not require board vote, being provided as information only.


 

Description: 
BACKGROUND
AC-AR -- Discrimination Complaint Procedure~Changes the number of days from 10 days to 30 days in which a written final decision must be sent to the complainant.  Does not require board vote, being provided as information only.

GCBDF/GDBDF - Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance~~ The Oregon Legislature has passed paid family leave laws with benefits becoming available on September 3, 2023. This policy is intended to help districts make decisions and implement these laws.

GCBDF/GDBDF-AR - Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance~ includes procedure language covering topics such as: application; employee notices; concurrent use of district-provided leave; return to work; communications; employer notices; filings; employee protections. Does not require board vote, being provided as information only.

IGBHD - Program Exemptions~~to more closely match the legal requirements for requesting an exemption from school activities.

JFCF-AR - Hazing, Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, Menacing, Cyberbullying, or Teen Dating Violence Reporting Procedures~ Changes the number of days from 20 to 30 for final decisions.  Does not require board vote, being provided as information only.

JGE - Expulsion-This change clarifies the board’s role and gives the board the option of delegating the hearings officer role in the policy, thus relieving the board of the obligation to meet every time there is a recommendation for expulsion to designate a hearings officer. The board retains authority on appeal.

KL-AR(1) - Public Complaint Procedure ~~Changes the number of days from 20 to 30 for final decisions.  Does not require board vote, being provided as information only.
 

Description:  Adjourned at 9:45 p.m.