Ron Poplawski regarding the September minutes about the audit (Item VIIB). The verbiage was "Sam Schweda reported that the 23/24 Audit was a clean audit, with one minor entry error. This has been corrected."

Ron Poplawski inquired whether there should be an inclusion stating a clean audit. The Board decided to discuss this item further later in today's agenda, while Ashlee Lent verifies the audit.

Circling back to this item before adjournment, Ashlee Lent verified that the September minutes are accurate as stated. Ron Poplawski agreed to leave it as is. 

There was no discussion regarding the September financials.

Policy 4260/4260P is new.  It is one of the State's critical policies that SIA has to adopt. 

Representatives from Harlows School Bus Service attended today's Board meeting. Brandon Harrison, location manager, and Brian Johnson, Regional Director of Operations. Harlows provides bus service to Spokane International Academy students. They are here to introduce themselves in person as new managers and would like to provide a brief report

• From the start of the school year, SIA contracted 7 buses
• 10,444 miles without incidents
• Harlows conducts daily trip inspections 
• 99.83 percent drop off/pick up efficiency
• No tardies among student riders
• Morning route evaluation with Russ Battiata
• Cut route time; zero overage for 7 routes

Harlows would like to extend their appreciation for working with them regarding the evacuation drill. Evacuation drills are conducted annually through OSPI; quarterly through Harlows. They hope to conduct another drill with the afternoon students.

Looking ahead, they aspire to continue route and driver evaluation.

They appreciate the partnership and are looking forward to continuing to provide service to SIA and students. They look forward to attending future Board meetings.

As of October 1st, there are 872 students enrolled; six (6) new students will start this month.

Among the 12th graders, there are four (4) at SIA; 2.40 FTE are attending Running Start or NewTech.

Caryn McGee, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, reported. The following are highlights from the SIA Data Presentation.

MAP was administered to students in first grade through 10th grade in September. 

• 438 students took the test
• Goals
  • 95% of students at each grade level take the test
  • Students' measures to be at the 40th percentile and above

Today's report focused on the RIT Score. RIT score measures students' academic growth; it helps predict what they are ready to learn next. We use the RIT score to predict students' progress over time. RIT scores are used for students' learning zones. Teachers use it as a tool.

This year, SIA implemented WIN Time (What I Need). 

• pull out sessions
• intervention

Key Takeaways

• Early Literacy - top priority
  • Coaches
  • Interventionists (targeted intervention)
  • Science in Reading (the goal is 95% of 2nd graders will be reading by the end of the school year)
• Math Strength - consistent across academies
  • K-5 adopted the Eureka Math program last year
  • Illustrious Math in Middle and High School
• Performance Spread
  • RIT scores increase steadily from Elementary to High School
  •  Elementary Reading has the lowest mean (183.1) and widest spread (±23.5), signaling a need for a deeper early literacy focus.
• Math vs. Reading Gap 
  • Math outperforms Reading at every level
  • The gap is most pronounced in High School.

Implications  & Next Steps 

• WIN Time - targeted 50-minute block in K-2
• Winter MAP - will be administered in December
• After-school tutoring will start

SIA Site-specific Goal 

• At least 50% of the students in grades 1-10 who scored in the bottom 40% in the Fall MAP test will meet their projected RIT growth goal by the Spring MAP test in Math and Literacy.

WA State Report Card 24-25 (Based on 3 or higher)

• SIA is very close to the state average in ELA
• SIA outperforms the state in Math by 3.7 percentage points; and in Science by 6.4 points
• These are strong indicators, especially given SIA's higher proportion of low-income students.

SBA Foundational Grade Level Knowledge (Based on 2 or higher)

• SIA is above the state averages for all three tested areas. 
• Two areas of strength are Math and Science.

There were no questions or further discussions on this item. 

The Board is welcome to attend any school event. Email Myra Keast if you would like to attend.

Reminder to complete training. Due October 31

So far only two board members have completed the traininng.

The survey on financial contribution resulted in $500 contribution per board member for the year. Myra Keast will edit the commitment form to reflect this amount.

Complete and sign before the November meeting. 

Myra to email the revised form. Adobe/DocuSign from Sam Schweda.

Board committees are formed. Myra Keast will email each committee. 

Committee Action Items:

• Schedule a committee meeting 
• Select a Committee Chair
• Create a structure