Dustin Taylor led us in the flag salute.

There was a quorum present.

Annie Keebler moved the Board approve the November 19, 2025 consent agenda, as presented. Danielle Santman seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 

Freeman High School Cross Country Coaches Mallory McDonald and Leah Heideman were in attendance with 7 members of the FHS Boys Cross Country State Championship Team.  The Board was happy to recognize such an amazing achievement and acknowledge how well they represented Freeman this season.    

Josiah - senior - 12th at state

Owen - junior - 16th at state

Eli - freshman - 9th at state

Alex - junior - alternate

Josiah - senior - 24th at state

Micah - junior - 6th at state

Oliver - junior - 28th at state

They manifested the state championship and worked incredibly hard over the summer in particular running hundreds of miles each in preparation for the season.  

Arlen Frazier was selected for our Above and Beyond Award!  Arlen has been a great supporter of Freeman over the years,  donating his time, energy and resources - including supplies to Mr. Rae in the FHS woodshop.  We are grateful for your support, Arlen!  

The Board welcomed the Freeman Robotics Team who presented the work they have been doing on an archaeology project.  Barbara Berg manages the robotics program with 17 kids this year.  Robotics is a sport that can be lettered in.  They practice for a very long time with limited performance opportunities (unlike other sports), so it can be challenging when it comes to performance day. The robotics group comes up with a new theme each year, and this year it is archaeology.  

The youngest group of 4th, 5th and 6th graders (Team Robo Rex) presented how archaeologists can use drones to help in their problem solving, and they showed us the drone that they built.  

The next group of 5th to 8th graders (Team lost and found) presented their work on trying to solve the problem of tents blowing away - what solutions have been used in the past and what new methods can they try.  

The board was then invited to see their robots in action.  Thank you, Freeman Robotics!

Positively contributing to society & community and dutifully respecting authority & the law.  

Overview

For the 2025-26 school year, Freeman Elementary School will continue to strengthen our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) across academic, behavioral, and social-emotional domains. Our focus will be on refining practices within all three tiers to ensure that each student receives the support they need to thrive. Equally important, we are committed to fostering a strong sense of belonging for all students, staff, and community members.

Areas of Focus

• PTSG events - the Hoe Down on November 14th was a huge success with profit estimated at $4,500, which is one of the best yet; Craft Night is scheduled for December 12th and is open to our Freeman community where kids make many crafts to give as gifts
• Our first PACE Assembly was November 19th - it's such a great way to honor kids, and there was a fun addition where Mr. McKeown was pied in the face by two students who won the opportunity through a raffle drawing at the Hoe Down - thank you Mr. M
• Professional Learning Collaboration with a focus on student growth goals and scheduling of observations are happening weekly and going well
• CEE data review and sharing of results

Enrollment

TK = 38 and P3 = 4    K = 67  1st = 49  2nd = 66

3rd = 58   4th = 72   5th = 58= 408

Lost a family who moved to Canada, but then had new enrollment that balanced it out

Overview

For the 2025-26 school year, Freeman Middle School will continue to strengthen our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) across academic, behavioral, and social-emotional domains. Our focus will be on refining practices within all three tiers to ensure that each student receives the support they need to thrive. Equally important, we are committed to fostering a strong sense of belonging for all students, staff, and community members.

Areas of Focus

>Conferences - 55 scheduled and had great connections with families

>Mental Health Presentations in 6th Grade Health - Mrs. Archibald (K-8 counselor) delivered those presentations and there were only 3 families that opted out - great feedback and appreciation from parents

>Veterans’ Day Assembly was awesome

>First Round of Observations completed - staff and kids performing at a high level

Enrollment

            6th- 57              7th- 72              8th- 64              Total- 193

Overview

For the 2025-26 school year, Freeman High School will continue to strengthen our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) across academic, behavioral, and social-emotional domains. Our focus will be on refining practices within all three tiers to ensure that each student receives the support they need to thrive. Equally important, we are committed to fostering a strong sense of belonging for all students, staff, and community members. 

Areas of Focus

• Successful Fall conferencing:  22 group conferences; 29 individual conferences. This is the largest group of conferences that we've had in a long time.
• Great Veterans Day Program - special thanks to Mr. Monasmith, Ms. Frazier, and Mr. Jydstrup, Ms. Beazer for their work in making it such a success.  We served 128 people at the breakfast, which matches pre-covid numbers.  Thank you to Dave Teague for guest speaking - it was a very thoughtful message to our community.  
• November POWER focus: Ownership - great video that the kids produced - check it out on social media if you haven't had a chance to see it.  
• Formal Classroom observations are nearing completion - two more to go, and one teacher tied it in to a professional growth goal.  
• FFA Tractor Driving Competition was today - waiting for results as the kids have been working hard.  
• Food Drive is happening now through Friday, 11/21 - class competitions are in full swing.  

Enrollment

9th = 69,  10th = 56,  11th = 75,  12th = 83 .  Total: 283

Overview

Fall sports are going very well.  

• Soccer is the 3 seed in the state bracket.  The team was league and district champs. They won their 1st round state game 7-0 vs Pateros and they beat Davenport to advance to the final four.  They play this Friday, 11/21 at noon, and will play Saturday, 11/22 for either the 3rd/4th place match, or hopefully the championship!  
• Football is the 4 seed in the state bracket and hosted Cle Elum last Friday for the win 47-6. We host Okanogan this Friday, 11/21 at 6pm.  
• Volleyball finished as league and district champs, and took 2nd in state. Tremendous year!
• The boys cross country team finished the season as state champs.  Micah Bessire finished 6th, Eli Beck 9th, Josiah Kann 12th, Owen Offereins 16th, Eli Cotton 18th, Josiah Bessire 24th, and Oliver Jones 28th.  Our girls cross country team finished 7th overall.  Audrey Santman finished 5th overall, Emma Dreyer 22nd, Elianna Bessire 32nd, Stella Dawe 43rd, Leighla Bias 72nd, Clara Dawe 78th, and Lila Kadzejs 82nd.  Great job by the coaches and the kids.
• Cheer team is doing a great job of supporting our athletic teams and bringing school spirit.

Areas of Focus

• Winter sports started Monday, 11/17.
• Girls wrestling coach has been hired
• Fall State Playoffs

Enrollment

• Boys Basketball - 29 currently
• Girls Basketball - 17 currently
• Boys Wrestling - 21 currently
• Girls Wrestling - 1
• Cheer – 14

Overview

Work to improve programs and support our student athletes.

Participate in partnership with the Greater Spokane County League (GSCL).

Areas of Focus

Early Winter records

• Volleyball - 8th V and JV, 7th V and JV, combo - they have seen tremendous growth and a great building block for the HS program
• Wrestling - 1-3 currently - we don't have a large number of participants, which makes it tough for us to win overall matches as we don't have kids representing every weight category, so the results don't always represent our successes - they are doing great

Seasons will come to a close with Wrestling All-League at Westwood/Cheney HS and Volleyball December 9th

We have an opening for boys basketball currently, so will be interviewing soon

12/7 peer to peer mentorship program going on a field trip - will report on that at the December meeting

Enrollment

• FMS Volleyball: 60
• FMS Wrestling: 16

Overview

Freeman SD Nutrition Services supports the philosophy of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and will provide wholesome and nutritious meals for our students.

Areas of Focus

• Veteran’s Day Breakfast – Served 128. Culinary Class students presented very well for the occasion.  
• New Dietetics Intern:
  • 4 Week Rotation.
  • Jan 26 – Mar 20.
  • On site M, W, & Th.
  • Christopher Lopez-Rosas.
  • Working with his Professor to integrate the rotation requirements with K8 ASB and/or FHS Culinary Classes.
• Getting great feedback from the meetings with the ASB students about nutrition services.

Overview

 "The students of Freeman are the heart of our community and the reason we serve. The Freeman School District Transportation Department is dedicated to providing safe, reliable, and respectful transportation for all TK–12 students. We are committed to connecting home, school, and community, ensuring every student arrives ready to learn and thrive."

Areas of Focus

• Thank you to Kirk and Paula Lally for the Combs Way sign on property!  A nice surprise.  
• The night of November 2nd several buses were vandalized
  • Five of the buses had batteries stolen
  • On some of the buses, the batteries were only unbolted
  • On others, the battery cables were cut, which caused extensive damage
  • All the extension cords for the block heaters were also taken
  • All routes were covered that morning, but if they had vandalized one more bus we would not have been able to cover all the routes
• We are working on preventing this from happening again in the future
  • Getting quotes for replacement gates at the entrances to all three transportation areas 
  • Current gate arms are either damaged or unable to function reliably
  • We will be getting locks placed on all the battery boxes and fuel doors

October 2025 Mileage and Ridership Data

• To/From total mileage – 16,568
• Ridership total – 17216
  • Morning riders – 8527
  • Afternoon riders – 8099
  • 2nd PM riders – 590
• Routes:
  • Regular Routes – 10
  • Program Routes – 2
  • After school 2nd PM Routes – 2
  • McKinney-Vento Route - 1 currently, but likely 2
• Bill Morphy asked if we have any leads on the vandalism - we could see the truck and trailer on camera, but plates were not clear.  

Areas of Focus:

1. Winter equipment is ready.
2. Working on getting winter supplies ready - sand and ice melt are in. 
3. Still need custodial subs - for example, MS won't have a 

Safety:

Working with Todd and Joanna on new emergency manuals. Updating from 2018-2019 as we work with local Law Enforcement and a variety of emergency response teams to consolidate and focus the messaging.  More to come.  

Overview

For the 2025-26 school year, Freeman Student Services Department will strengthen our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) across academic, behavioral, and social-emotional domains. Our focus will be on refining practices within all three tiers to ensure that each student receives the support they need to thrive. Equally important, we are committed to fostering a strong sense of belonging for all students, staff, and community members.

Areas of Focus and Enrollment

Special Education

• Attended a law conference at the end of October and learned a lot of information.  
• Working on updating many of the department processes
  • Child Find- District’s legal, affirmative duty to locate, identify and potentially evaluate all students living within our bounds who may have a disability and need special education services. Creating a more streamlined process.
  • Annual Child Count due to OSPI Dec. 15. The report is completed. 
  • Right Response Training will be complete for all staff who needed it by Dec. 5.  This is for anyone working with students who have behavioral challenges that may need restraint.  
  • Post School Outcomes Report was completed prior to Nov. 1 deadline.  We keep in touch with students who have graduated our program to support their post school transition.  Hannah Warr has spearheaded this process and successfully managed this report. 
  • 112 Students 

Multilingual Learners (MLL)

• No updates at this time.
• 3 students

McKinney Vento/ Foster Youth

• Coordinating closely with transportation to support students
• Connecting families to area community resources including food for the holidays through Fill the Gap and upcoming Tree of Sharing program.  18 families we will be supporting
• We are seeing an increased need for out-of-district transportation services.
• 22 students/ 0 students

Title 1/ Learning Assistance Program (LAP)

• Title/ LAP family engagement was completed at conferences ensuring all families with students receiving intervention have communication about their student’s goals and progress. 
• 72 students (K-8)

Highly Capable

• Highly Capable Screening tool was purchased. Training will begin on Nov. 20. The screening will roll out in 2nd and 3rd grade in January.

Overview
Provide the highest quality technology-based services, in the most cost-effective manner, to help facilitate the FSD mission

Areas of Focus

• We applied for the FP 507 - School Safety and Preparedness grant, requesting funding to implement district-wide door access control upgrades to enhance campus safety and security. Six million for the entire state, so we'll see if we get approved.  This is in follow up to Alyssa's Law for safety and security requirements.  
• The Technology Department supported the Veterans Day Assembly by coordinating and help producing the slideshows and audiovisual elements, ensuring a smooth and polished presentation for our students, staff, and community. 
• I am continuing to develop both the updated Technology Plan and the district’s Safety and Security Plan to ensure aligned, long-term improvements across the campus.  Meeting with HS and MS students regarding safety and security to get their input and feedback as one of many steps in this process.  

• The school board will be leaving tomorrow for the WSSDA Conference 2025 in Seattle.  A chance to look more closely at the future of the district, and also connect with other school boards across the state to collaborate.  Dr. Russell had a great meeting with Dave Teague on Monday to develop their plan for the meetings, and also coordinate their plans to support the Freeman soccer team for their state games on Friday and Saturday since they will be in the area. 
• We are hosting the state robotics again in December, which is a wonderful opportunity for our Freeman community!

• Dr. Russell shared the good news with the Board that our Moody's Rating (A2) will be unchanged.  This is important because the better rate we have, the better deal we get for financing.  Initially based on cash position they said they would downgrade us, but we met with them and showed them our plan and they decided to keep our rating consistent. The A and B parts of our current bond come off in the next couple of years, so this is an important update.  
• Cash Flow - Dr. Russell reminded the Board that November and December are early meetings, so the cash flow projection is delayed a month.  He's feeling good about our finances overall, but not feeling good about the upcoming legislative session.  Dr. Russell and Lisa Phelan will likely be headed to Olympia a couple of times to advocate for school funding. Projections include an 800 million dollar shortfall over the next four years, so we are not expecting any additional support from the state level, and cross our fingers we won't have extensive cuts. Thankfully local property taxes are not increasing.  We will continue to keep a close eye on funding.
• Dr. Russell briefly looked at the Capital Projects Fund cap flow with the Board.  He will talk with them in more detail at the conference this weekend - specifically how this impacts our safety and tech plan that Todd Reed is working on.  
• We will have a couple of pinch points financially as we wait for the levy funding to come in next year.  The April 2026 and April 2027 tax collections will be what we use to fund phase 1 and phase 2, respectively, of our safety, security and tech plan.  Likely to be 1.1 to 1.5 million total.  We need to leave enough money for the traffic flow review, which was promised in our communication with voters.  
• We are keeping an eye on many large ticket items that may come up soon.  We know of a $6,000 expense to replace a dishwasher.  The chiller at the HS needs attention as it's nearly 20 years old and is starting to fail - this could be up to $50K.  We need three new security gates valued at $14K each, and the elevator at the MS needs attention.  This is why our cash reserve balance is so critical, and why we need our community support in levy funding - it makes a significant difference.  
• Great first quarter overall, and proud of our Freeman staff and students.  
• Enrollment is consistent, which the principals presented.  

Annie Keebler moved the Board approve Board Policy No. 3143 - 2nd Reading - Notification and Dissemination of Information About Student Offenses and Notification of Threats of Violence or Harm, as presented.  Danielle Santman seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Annie Keebler moved the Board approve Board Policy No. 1310 - 2nd Reading - Policy Adoption, Manuals and Administrative Procedures, as presented.  Nate Talbott seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Danielle Santman moved the Board approve Board Policy No. 2420 - 2nd Reading - Grading and Progress Reports, as presented.  Annie Keebler seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Annie Keebler moved the Board approve Board Policy No. 4260 - 2nd Reading - Use of School Facilities, as presented.  Nate Talbott seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Annie Keebler moved the Board approve Board Policy No. 3210 - 2nd Reading - Nondiscrimination, as presented.  Danielle Santman seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Bill Morphy moved the Board approve Board Policy No. 1111 - 1st Reading - Oath of Office, as presented.  Nate Talbott seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Annie Keebler moved the Board approve Board Policy No. 5010 - 1st Reading - Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action, as presented.  Danielle Santman seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Bill Morphy moved the Board approve Board Policy No. 6022 - 1st Reading - Minimum Fund Balance, as presented.  Nate Talbott seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Annie Keebler moved the Board approve Board Policy and Procedure No. 3226 - 1st Reading - Interviews and Interrogations of Students on School Premises, as presented.  Danielle Santman seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

The next board meeting will be on Wednesday, December 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM, preceded by an Advance Work Session from 2-5 PM.  The following meetings will be on Monday, January 26, 2026 at 11:00 AM and Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 6:00 PM.  

Freeman's Culinary Arts students (and teacher Lisa Frazier) will be providing a holiday dinner for the Leadership Team and School Board at 5pm on 12/10 ahead of the Board meeting.  

Certified:                     Kobe Taylor – Emergency Substitute Teacher – pending completion of the                                            Emergency Substitute Certification          

                                     Alexandria Hudgens – Substitute Teacher

Classified:                  Jessica Clemons – Substitute Secretary – pending OSPI approval

                                    Barb LaShaw – Rescind Resignation – Bus Driver

Extracurricular:         Natalie Randolph – Resignation - HS JV/Assistant Softball Coach

                                    Isaac Swillie – Resignation – MS 7th Grade Boys Head Basketball Coach

                                    Braedon Orrino – HS Assistant Wrestling Coach – Girls’ Position

Annie Keebler moved the Board approve the personnel action, as presented.  Bill Morphy seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Recording Secretary________________________________________________

Board Secretary____________________________________________________

Board Chair________________________________________________________