Ryan Grant said the 8th Grade Math is Cool team placed 1st in their division. They did a great job against St. Georges and other schools. 8th grade boys basketball has 39 who have turned out to play, thank you to Trevor Buckley, Lisa Lemire and the District Office for getting a 3rd coach to help with that. There are 16, 8th grade girls for basketball as well, which is great. 

He also noted that since Tonya Jaynes is on the agenda for a report, he wanted to give a shout out to her for helping with a student in his program. It's a student who has had trouble with school for the last 3 years, this year, thanks to our transportation department, this student has been to school 49 out of 50 days, and it is cool to see. 

Students in the High School Mentoring Program spoke to what being in the program means to them. Tera Hart runs the program through a grant from the LaunchNW. One aspect is the ASPIRE program which serves Medical Lake students directly, providing college access support, mentoring, and financial guidance through trained college student mentors. MLHS students Faolan and Kartr spoke about how the program has helped build their confidence and encouraged them to try things they normally wouldn't have thought to try. 

Next students Roslyn and Josie talked about peer mentoring. A senior pairs with a freshman or sophomore, they spend time every other Friday helping with homework, talking about applying for college, jobs, or just life in general. It has been beneficial for both students. They're very glad they decided to be part of the program and encourage anyone to take part if given the chance. 

He talked about the structured days off on the calendar, keeping the day off that coincides with the one military day off is huge, they appreciate that. Ryan gave a huge shout out to Malenna King for all the times he called her with changes, she happily made them to get it out for vote in a timely manner. It's a good calendar and he appreciates everyone who voted and the conversations at the district level. 

Our student representatives scheduled to do a report this month were not available so their reports will be next month. We do have notes from Emma and Nate presented by Roslyn and Madi.

Emma went to Michael Anderson and talked with students in grades 2, 4 and 5. Second graders said peer-to-peer support is important to them as primary helpers over teachers. Fourth grade students feel supported by teachers who use calm communication when explaining new concepts. While students in fifth grade felt teachers were able to provide clear explanations in challenging subjects. 

All students said the overall atmosphere and staff presence creates a strong sense of safety. And that social and physical outlets like recess, meals and friends are tied to their school happiness. Their favorite things about learning were high engagement for 2nd grade in math, mastering long division in 4th grade, and 5th grade social studies had an interest in the upcoming civil war curriculum. 

Nate's visit to the High School sounded like students are still unclear as to the roles of Student Representatives. Students there suggested a multi-channel approach such as utilizing all social media platforms and physical posters throughout the building to help gain a better understanding of the representatives roles and availability. 

For instructional support, students in ELA specifically appreciated teachers providing detailed feedback on their papers rather than just putting on a final score adding in that it helps them improve their writing skills. 

Classes students identified as essential for their future success in post-secondary education avenues were, Culinary Arts, Spanish and PE. 

All students would like to see other high school departments mirror the feedback vs just scores that ELA does when grading. Implement the social media/posters for accessing student representatives and continue to foster "friend-first" support cultures seen in elementary schools as it builds the foundation for tight-knit communities within the school. 

Transportation Supervisor, Tonya Jaynes gave her yearly review of how things are going at the transportation department. 

There are currently 1145 students being transported daily on to/from routes, this includes daily routes, new tech skills center routes, McKinney Vento and activity routes.

Current fleet size is 28 buses and 14 support vehicles with a total mileage, as of January 2026 of 92,864 miles. Last year's total mileage was 204,336 miles, that included all trips listed above. 

Tonya gave a break down on the style of our buses, including how many students they can carry and what type of students they're used for, such as general education or special education. 

Accidents, trainings, inspections (winter and summer) and emergency evacuation drills, and all safety and compliance that takes place during the year was covered. 

Tonya gave a staffing overview, touching on driving and route personnel, department leadership and maintenance and status of drivers being trained that will able to join the sub pool.

A great comparison on fuel expenditures from last year to this year was shared on the next slide.

New to transportation this year is the BusRight App which will give real time tracking for the parent's student only. The app will be rolled out the week before spring break so parents have the week of break to play with it and get used to it with a real roll out on April 13. Also new, is positive bus referrals. The students are being recognized for positive bus behavior and, at least at the elementary level, it is making a huge impact. We believe it will make a lasting impression and we'll start getting more positive referrals vs negative ones. 

Mr. Haugen said there are really 2 main things to share tonight. We really have a lot to celebrate, the pattern and trend in grades K-12 is really positive. Our kids are working hard, and our staff are working hard. Our virtual staff are coordinating and working hard.  He thanked the school leaders, they're engaged in difficult work for re-envisioning at all four buildings how to best meet the needs of all students. The first slide showed a summary of Aimsweb data from the elementary schools. The graphs show that we're moving kids in a positive growth direction in Math and ELA.

The piece to focus on in the second slide, shows the diamond, which is the estimated projected growth. The blue bar, is the observed growth. We are noticing kids are out performing what was estimated.  That is a huge success. 

Looking at a few bills moving forward. The tax relief bill is going through the house and senate.

There is a push to not include Michael Anderson in the equation when applying for funding to upgrade Hallett, that is still moving forward. 

The number one thing we're pushing for is no unfunded mandate. Don't make school district's shoulder the cost of everything. Current budget outlook isn't great, there are some recommended cuts to K-12. 

Dr. Headrick read the proclamation for Education Support Professionals Week, March 9-13. We have combined classified week with teacher week into "staff week" with a fun voluntary participation game the last 3 years. This year is the Amazing Race which will be held the week before spring break.