Olympia School District adopts policies on students, community relations, personnel

The Olympia School District (OSD) Board of Directors adopted some of its Policy Series for students, community relations, and personnel at a meeting on Thursday, September 26.

The meeting reviewed  New Essential Policies, 3000 Series:  Students, 4000 Series:  Community Relations, 5000 Series:  Personnel, and 6000 Series:  Management Support.

Policy Series 6000, which contains policy 6883 on school closures, was put on hold as the board is set to investigate whether it had an official first reading.

The proposed change to 6883 removes the written analysis requirement before a 90-day public engagement period before the final decision for school closures.

Community members also commented on this policy, and Director Maria Flores voted against its approval.

The original policy requires the school district to prepare a written analysis that considers enrolment, facility and education program effects, student and staff displacement, and other financial, safety, and health considerations.

Community comments for Policy 6883

“I'm here in good faith telling you that there is a right way to close schools. It involves a thorough written analysis that allows the district to justify your decisions before they're made, to provide family, students, and staff with a solid plan to comment on and reassurance that the people in charge can handle the changes ahead,” said Marissa Smith, a parent of a Madison Elementary School student.

Smith alleged that the policy the board presented in the meeting is different from the version posted for public comment and from the version of the first reading.

“This district has massive systemic issues…we're still looking at a stripped-down policy 6883 with no guidance on who the revision authors were or why certain revisions were made…there is no criteria for the written analysis that takes into account impact on other facilities, programs, transportation, finances and student services,” said community member Erika Lari.        

Another community member, Amy, said that the language in the revised 6883 is vague, specifically the part indicating that the superintendent or a designee will prepare a written summary.

“This is an important decision that will affect students in the closed school and the receiving schools for years to come. The community’s watching; we’ll hold you accountable,” Amy said.

Procedural problem

Superintendent Patrick Murphy highlighted Flores’s question of whether it is a procedural problem for a proposal to be made exclusively verbally in a meeting and have that count as for first reading.

“There was no posting of 6883. The…work session recording President Seidel…she describes it aligns to RCW, but the physical copy was not provided in that work session. And I can find the video and give you the time stamps, but I just want to clarify that I don't think verbally discussing a policy without having the physical copy present both for the board and the public in First Reading constitutes first reading,” inquired Director Maria Flores.

Flores emphasized that the public had many questions related to 6883, and she reviewed the work session and the tracker provided to them.

“I think the answer that question is, no, a verbal first reading doesn't count, especially because we're talking about policy changes…I reviewed the documents in real-time…they were emailed to the school board prior to the meeting, they don't appear to have been posted prior to the meeting, and so there's a public transparency issue with respect to how

Murphy recommended making the latest meeting the first reading for Policy Series 6000 and having a second reading afterward.