Ryan Grant wanted to echo what Dr. Headrick said about having new people on the facilities committee is pretty neat. He gave big credit to her and her team for getting those voices who haven't been heard before at the table, it's a huge deal. The facilitator did a great job.

He also wanted to echo Dir. Johnson about having a school board that is all about doing what they can for staff and students and getting along so well. It's very peaceful and we're grateful for the School Board of Medical Lake. 

A 10 minute break was taken for refreshments as a Thank You to our School Board. 

Roslyn went to Hallett this month. Students there have a school-wide excitement for math in 4th and 5th grades and are showing a heightened interest in writing. They said they feel exceptionally safe due to the high visibility of teachers during the day. When asked what the school's superpower would be, they said "efficient" noting its ability to constantly build itself up. 

When asked about support, they said teachers are their primary support but some students prefer peer-to-peer as their first line of communication if they're too shy to ask an adult.

Nathaniel went to the Middle School. 6th graders there expressed enjoyment regarding their science testing schedule. Students in 7th and 8th grades reported a desire to move faster in History to cover modern topics and requested more open-ended, creative writing opportunities. They'd like to see more inclusive assemblies about different groups of students like the way Hallett does to increase student involvement. Teachers were praised for their patience and it was noted that the presence of the sheriff and administration during lunch made them feel safe and the environment more welcoming. 

Lorelai went to the High School. More sophomores were doubling up on math so they were able to do more electives later like Spanish, PE and Life Skills. The English department was highlighted for maintaining a clear grading system and rewards that motivate attendance and performance. When asked the school's superpower, students said it was "speed" and "strength" because of the student body being able to learn quickly and keep up with a fast-paced environment. 

It was still noted that students in the high school are not sure of the purpose or function of the student board representatives. So the goal of this group is to increase visibility so peers know how to utilize them for advocacy. 

Madison said she and Lilly really enjoyed the opportunity to attend the conference. Their main take-away was the "bite, snack, meal, crockpot" method. It references things we can achieve right now, the near future, this year and eventually. When we met with other student representatives at the conference, some said they meet with their school board prior to the board meetings to talk about the agenda, others had Board Mentors, to help them get a better understanding what the Board does. It was also noted some schools give 1/2 a credit for students who serve as representatives and give our cords during graduation which would be great for recognition. (a quick google search said Royal Blue is the color for student board reps). 

On the car ride back home, the superintendent and student representatives were able to talk about these ideas more in-depth. The superintendent noted that both Madison and Lilly did an outstanding job and both thought it was really neat and cool. 

There were great ideas around being able to go through the board packet prior to the meeting to give an advisory vote to the board and superintendent and have an opportunity to engage in conversation around topics and policies ahead of time. 

We also had the idea of doing a retreat or work session in the next couple of months and all come together to really get to know each other more. 

The board thought the work session was a great idea. 

Dr. Jeremy Vincent filled in for AD Dawn Eliassen as she was at the basketball game in Riverside.

• Just shy of 100 active winter athletes registered for winter sports to include 2 gymnasts with SPS, and 5 boys swimmers with CHS.
• Our gymnasts are regularly landing on the podium and are likely State qualifiers in February.
• James Oliver is currently ranked 1st in the state at 126 and Lyla Heinemann is ranked 2nd at 135.
• The Spirit Game with Lakeside has been revived as The Battle of the Buoy.
  • 2026 Cardinals of the Caribbean
  • January 31, at Mead HS
  • Student Rooter Buses and a Family Bus are planned
  • Spirit packs are on sale now

Christy Nauta noted that it is pretty quiet for the moment.

Hallett currently doesn't have any resignations or retirements, there is a potential leave of absence that is due by March 1 that could impact them. 

Michael Anderson has an instructional coach that is retiring after 37 years with the district. 

The TK teacher has the ability to stay home and is resigning her position.

Our music teacher is moving to Ohio creating an opening for music.

Middle School has 2 veteran science teachers retiring, those will be big spots to fill.

A veteran PE teacher is retiring from the high school, and a medical leave of absence that will also need to notify us by March 1.

Student Services has nothing as of this moment.

Custodial and Nutrition Services is fully staffed and has a sub pool, something we've not had in awhile. 

Transportation has 4 new drivers doing class next week.

Trevor Meade did a wrap-up from last year when Josh Rux, Carrie Fitch, Rob Haugen and Ryan Stemkowski did a refresh of the district website. It had been 8 years since the last refresh. It's a lot of work and looked really amazing.

Q was a year long process, or supposed to be, August proved to be more of a challenge, things weren't quite as smooth as they should've been. HR, Payroll and Student Services did a great job getting things moved over from the old to the new and set up everything for our district to be successful. It took a village for this to be successful and I think we are doing great.

Every year we get 375 Chromebooks on a 5 year refresh cycle. This year we did it a little early as components within the Chromebooks were set to go up in price at the middle of next month. We also upgraded to a new work order system. It was the maintenance department's idea first but we saw the potential for our department. It gives us better analytics from the past so we can help solve problems before they happen. Another thing we like about the system is the satisfaction survey which allows us to get a heartbeat on how we're doing with work being completed. Staff can even leave feedback, good or bad. It's reviewed weekly and goes into a data dashboard so we know where we can improve and make changes. Currently at 4.9 out of 5 for ratings. 

Mr. Meade introduced Kevin Orense, the new tech assistant. Josh Rux went to West Valley, Kevin came from West Valley. His customer support is great and Trevor receives a lot of compliments on his professionalism. He's a nice breath of fresh air, brings in new ideas. 

Tawni shared a slide show and started by reminding the Board that the Special Education team constantly creates the connection of belonging for everyone in our district. 

The next slide talked about "least restrictive environment" and what that means for students. It means teaching kids in an environment that doesn't restrict their learning, such as keeping them in a general education classroom as much as possible. Tawni wishes she could change to the "most enabling environment", she feels it's a better term.

A comparison of data shows that the district average percentage of students with disabilities being served in their classroom 80-100% of the time has gone from 58% in 2017/18 to 90% in 2025/26. This is equally impressive if you consider there are a total of 263 students in our district that are eligible for services. 

The final 3 slides touched on the LEA report. Normally our district is in the green. This year, we have one line that is yellow. It comes from the wording we used when talking about our students with disabilities post-secondary plans. It is very particular, we used shall vs will. Tawni takes this very serious and will have the corrections completed before the March 2 deadline. 

Mr. Haugen briefly noted that we have 16 different birth countries represented and 8 home languages in the Medical Lake School District across our ELD students. Currently we have 28 students actively enrolled in our ELD program and 6 being monitored. Once a student tests out of the ELD program, they are monitored for 2 years following. There are 4 teachers across the district that serve as building coordinators for the program and 2 support staff, 1 that assists with instruction and 1 at the district level that helps Mr. Haugen as the Program Coordinator. Students in the ELD program are tested on 4 domains: speaking, listening, reading and writing and in 2025, results show that listening was the students' strongest overall domain. 

Due to Dr. Williams-Gilbert need to be absent, this will be discussed at the February Board Meeting.

Dir. Cooper and Dir. Alexander will hand out diplomas at graduation on June 12.

The School Board Proclamation was read prior to the break for refreshments.

School Counselor Week is February 2 - 6, 2026. Dr. Headrick read aloud, a proclamation highlighting all that school counselors do for students nation-wide.

The first Community Facilities Task Force meeting was a huge success. Of the 24 invited, 22 were in attendance. Those in attendance represented a wide array of demographics across our district from former superintendents, graduates, business leaders, parents, community members, and current staff. 

Our team decided they'd like to meet in a different school building for each meeting so they can see the buildings first hand.