Education
Inclusivity shaped the November 12 Highline School Board meeting, appearing in the Beverly Park presentation, board comments, and the legislative agenda. Speakers deemphasized academic outcomes, focusing on growth, effectively masking the district’s poor academic performance. The meeting ended with President Van’s election-related remarks, framed as a possible farewell due to the tight race.
All members of the board were present at the board meeting, with Vice President Tidholm attending via Zoom. The meeting opened with two proclamations: American Education Week and Native American Heritage Month.
Beverly Park School Presentation
During their school presentation, Principal Richard Wisen and Assistant Principal Keyuanna Johnson explained their philosophy for teaching at Beverly Park, included testimonies from students and parents, and described how they uphold the Highline promise.
Principal Wisen shared the newly revised mission to focus on “safety, motivation, and respect.” He added that students are “people first, learners second.”
The presentation included:
- Three areas of focus: Teacher clarity (standards), Student engagement (cultural), and Social Emotional Learning (identity).
- Focus on multi-lingual learners and special needs students.
- Academic Parent Teacher Teams program, which aims to involve parents more in their children’s education.
- Success in incorporating classified staff, such as paraeducators, into their daily teachers’ meetings
Presentation included statistics on Bilingual Fluency and iReady growth:
For reference and clarity, here is a screenshot of Beverly Park’s current Washington State Standards (OSPI):
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Ivan Duran proudly shared that the levy is on track to pass with a current tally of 63.36 percent support, noting that the levy funding is used to pay for expenses not covered by state funding. He also spoke about the recent professional development day that took place on November 3rd, which focused on literacy and inclusion.
Highline Educators Association (HEA) President Jeb Binns gave comments on the levy, legislative agenda items, community involvement, the elections, and the professional development Nov 3 event.
Councilmember Reports
- Director Blaine Holien talked about the recent “Little Ram Night” event, where Mount Rainier students invited elementary students to a volleyball game to help introduce them to high school life.
- Director Damarys Espinoza thanked Beverly Park for their presentation and spoke on the importance of the parent-teacher relationship in the education of children.
- Director Angelica Alvarez, like Espinoza, thanked Beverly Park and mentioned that Sylvester Middle School recently had a parent-teacher meeting of their own, and thanked voters for passing the levy.
- Vice President Tidholm expressed her gratitude to voters for the election results, then said that Mount View Elementary recently hosted its Fall Carnival.
- President Joe Van spoke about attending the Girls on the Run event at Des Moines Elementary. He also attended the Success Foundation’s Garden Gala and visited Beverly Park and Highline H.S. At Highline, he learned about a program sponsored by Eastern Washington University that allows students to receive dual credits while learning skills such as computer programming, and he played a video to showcase this.
Scheduled Communications
The meeting was considerably reduced in length because there were no public speakers. Seven individuals initially signed up to speak on “inclusion,” but no one attended. Six people cancelled before the meeting began, and the one remaining did not show.
Business Agenda
Action Item
The only action item was a motion to approve the Certification of 2026 Excess Property Taxes. Board Directors need to vote on the amount to be used from the voter-approved levy for the 2026 calendar year, and this was approved unanimously and without comment.
Introduction Items
10.1: Chief Policy and Strategy Officer Holly Ferguson introduced the proposed Legislative Agenda for 2026, comprised of five legislative priorities. She expressed frustration with the state for not providing funding for the district and keeping up with rising expenses. She was disappointed that the “big three” requested in 2025 did not receive adequate funding (Special Education, Materials/Supplies/Operations, Transportation).
The five legislative priorities are the “big three” from last year, and now include Literacy and Capital Facilities.
Ferguson wrote the legislative agenda to be more assertive in its language about requesting funding.
10.2 & 10.3: Associate Superintendent Steve Grubb and Holly Ferguson presented two motions related to district property policies. They explained that the updates would clarify how the district sells or rents property and bring the policies in line with WSSDA standards. One key change is adding a requirement that charter schools receive the right of first refusal when the district sells or leases property.
10.7 Motion to approve Allovue Budget Suite Contract. Approval of this motion is a $334,456.50 contract with PowerSchool to implement the Allovue Budget Suite districtwide.
As discussed in the Budget Work Session before the regular meeting, this tool improves budgeting transparency and efficiency by providing clearer, real-time financial information integrated with existing district systems.
The rest of these introduction items did not include a presentation and involved little to no discussion.
Director Van’s Point of Privilege
At the end of the meeting, President Van gave what sounded like a farewell address, thanking the board and the people of Highline for supporting him. This was a little unexpected, as Van is currently leading in his electoral race for reelection.
The meeting adjourned at 7:20 PM.
** Full pdf from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for Beverly Park Elementary.
Members Discussion