The Enumclaw School District and the Muckleshoot Tribe are expanding their cooperative agreement to include vocational programs.
At their Nov. 15 meeting, Enumclaw School Board members approved an addendum that will expand the agreement to include career and technical education and vocational programs. The Tribal Council approved the addendum earlier.
In October 2004, the school district and tribe established a cooperative that benefits both entities in regard to enrollment reporting, basic education funding and expanding options for basic education programs.
According to ESD business manager Tim Madden and curriculum and assessment director Terry Parker, the agreement should benefit vocational programs at both districts through additional funding and program flexibility.
In other business, the board:
• reminded the public it is encouraged to participate in the climate survey on the district website.
• heard the district is supplying Thanksgiving baskets for families in need. A benefactor is providing 60 turkeys and schools and staff have collected donations to provide 150 baskets. Letters went out to 255 families who qualify for the free and reduced-cost lunch program. The district worked with community agencies and additional donations will be distributed in the community. District leaders reported a greater need this year, as the number of students receiving free lunch has increased from last year.
• heard from parent Ted DeVol who is concerned about the time kids are losing in the classroom due to intervention programs, conferences and professional learning communities. He noted from the time a student enters first grade until they graduate they miss the equivalent of 114 days of education.
“In the scope of things that’s a ton of time,” DeVol said.
A manufacturer, he showed the board how a suspension piece at his shop starts as a piece of metal and each time it touches a spindle it moves closer to the finished product. He likened the spindle to a teacher and the unfinished metal to a student.
“I want my kids fully educated,” he said.
• accepted a $4,500 donation from Kibler Elementary School PTA to be used for classroom enhancements, another $1,200 as a building grant and $1,000 for the second-grade swim program; $4,000 donation from Firewall Capital Management’s 5K run for Down Syndrome for special education programs; $913 from Southwood Elementary School PTA for use for National Geographic Magazines; $12,900 from Enumclaw Schools Foundation for full-day kindergarten scholarships and another $3,771 for five teacher grants.
