MEMORANDUM

TO: Board of Directors

FROM: Dr. Greg Baker, Superintendent

DATE: Dec. 1, 2016

RE: Monitoring Report for EL- 3, Treatment and Communication with Public,

Parents and Students

I certify that the following is accurate as of Dec. 1, 2016. The reporting period is from Dec. 1,

2015 through Nov. 18, 2016.

Policy Type: Executive Limitation

Policy: EL-3 Treatment and Communication with Public, Parents and

Students

“The Superintendent shall not fail to ensure that non-employee

stakeholders are treated with respect and dignity throughout the

organization, and appropriately communicated with regarding

district events, plans, and actions.…”

Adopted: Sept. 10, 2009

Revised: Jan. 14, 2016

Interpretation of items: None in question.

Description of Evidence of Compliance:

EL-3 directs the superintendent to treat non-employee stakeholders with respect and dignity

throughout the organization, and appropriately communicate district events, actions and plans.

Specifically,

1. The superintendent shall not fail to take all reasonable and prudent actions with respect to

non-employee stakeholder interactions and communications that are typical for similar and

highly effective organizations.

Before making districtwide decisions or implementing large-scale change, our standard practice is

to engage our stakeholders in being part of the solution. In this report, we highlight several

examples of stakeholder engagement and communications during the current reporting

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period. The examples highlight change management with respect to a new high school schedule,

school bus levy, bond projects, food services and wellness, new district and school websites,

equity, and restraint and isolation:

New High School Schedule: In April, I announced to families that we would be moving from a

six-period schedule to an eight-period schedule. Prior, my team and I worked closely with high

school staff and principals to determine the pros and cons of both a 4x8 schedule and a 7-period

schedule. This work included several surveys to staff, meetings with department leadership teams

and school/district visits around the region to see different high school schedules in action. In

March 2015, we surveyed families, staff, students and community members about start and end

times, which included information and questions about a new high school schedule and informed

our process and decision. Families, staff and students expressed strong support for creating more

opportunities for additional credits and a more flexible high school schedule. This fall, we sent a

call for applications for the High School Schedule Implementation Advisory Group. The group is

comprised of high school students, teachers, principals, specialists, counselors and directors of

teaching and learning. Our advisory group is working to mitigate concerns, including those around

homework, instructional time and graduation requirements. In early December, I sent out a

message to families and staff about the advisory group’s work and we shared blog and a “What’s

Up Doc?” video, which features students interviewing me and assistant superintendent Steve

Clarke about the new schedule.

School start/end times: The conversations with our families to change all school start and end

times began in 2014-15 to support teens’ sleep needs and a new high school schedule. We decided

to alter our initial proposal after survey data confirmed a significant level of concern expressed by

families in spring 2015. In this reporting period, we worked closely with stakeholders to use their

input to develop a revised plan that is summarized in this communication in March 2016. We

highly publicized another opportunity to talk about this change with me during a meeting on April

13, 2016; 2 parents attended who wished that bus transportation was not a factor in start and end

times, and that we could choose a later start time for elementary school to allow for more relaxed

morning routines for work-at-home parents. Acknowledging transportation/financial factors and

that no schedule will meet every family’s needs, we landed on new start/end times to implement in

August 2017. Since that time, we have been reminding families in our monthly calendar emails

and will increase communications for the remainder of the school year. In addition, an internal

work group that includes a variety of staff throughout the district has been planning for this

change including recommending to the superintendent when athletic practices will occur, the

YMCA childcare and early dismissal times, staffing needs and more. This includes preparations

down to the last detail such as changing time-specific parking signage at schools for drop-off and

pick-up.

School bus levy, operations levy, technology levy: Over a nine-month span, we asked our

community to consider backing three different levies to support our schools, programs, students

and staff. Bellingham Public Schools had two levies on the ballot in February 2016. We educated

and informed stakeholders about our maintenance and operations levy and how it helps lower

class-sizes; pays for teacher salaries; supports teaching and learning; funds arts, music, athletics,

and programs. It was also important to explain our capital/technology levy, which includes

funding for computers; classroom technology; adaptive learning devices for children with special

needs; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); and more. Last fall, we issued a call

for applications for a Student Technology Think Tank, which was comprised of students,

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administrators, parents, teachers and other staff. Based on the recommendation, we included a new

1:1 (one-to-one) technology initiative to support learning and prepare students for the future with

a video about the 1:1 initiative and the think tank’s work and a video featuring teachers talking

about ways they incorporate technology into their classrooms. These videos, along with Levy

Facts, were shared widely via email, our website, social media and at our schools. These levies

passed at 75 percent (maintenance and operations) and 73 percent (capital/technology). Then,

based on emerging needs, our school bus levy planning advisory group made a recommendation

to me in May to run a school bus levy in November 2016 to allow us to meet critical transportation

needs without drawing away resources from teaching and learning, staffing and school operations.

Again, our staff educated and informed voters through an explanatory video, a FAQ (Frequently

Asked Questions) webpage: and a special edition of “What’s Up Doc?,” which features a student

interviewing me about the school bus levy. Other voter education tools included a Bus Levy Fact

Sheet, my blog, Facebook, and speaking engagements with community groups and PTAs. The

school bus levy passed by 71 percent.

Options High School: We started mailing letters to Options neighbors when the Design Advisory

Committee formed in February 2015 and continued communications, which are documented in the

right column on this webpage. Communications included a community newsletter mailed to every

household and business, and a neighborhood meeting in January 2016. In spring 2016, we started

to receive emails from neighbors who had not yet engaged in the process with concerns about

parking, traffic, electro-magnetic fields (EMFs), pipelines, the adjacent trail, notification

requirements and transparency. We responded to individual emails with information and held

another, highly engaging neighborhood meeting on April 18, 2016 with 21 neighbors in

attendance who expressed support and concerns. Most neighbors left the meeting with their

questions answered and concerns addressed, except for one who continued to voice his objections

in ways that contributed to delay permitting. We continued to communicate with project updates,

including the site clean-up that occurred this fall, and have expanded our specific communications

with neighbors beyond the city’s standard of those who live within 500 feet of the project.

Sehome High School: A visioning process for the new Sehome High School occurred during the

last reporting period, followed by sharing design plans 1.0 in spring 2016. A value engineering

process occurred during summer 2016, and the Design Advisory Committee reconvened on Nov.

16, 2016 to provide feedback on design plans 2.0. The committee is in the process of engaging

students, families, neighbors and staff in understanding the latest designs through this

communication and Q&A. For example, we have carefully looked at maps to determine which

households around Sehome High School to include for mailing project updates to reach property

owners and rental occupants.

Happy Valley Elementary School: In August 2016, we opened a new Happy Valley Elementary

School to our students, teachers and families with a ceremonial ribbon cutting the day before the

first day of school. The celebratory open house was extremely well attended and we streamed the

event on Facebook Live, using this social media feature for the first time based on summer

learning from other highly effective districts nationally. Prior to opening, we communicated with

our students, families and community about construction schedules, parking expectations and

general progress in a variety of ways, including email, social media and printed letters and

postcards. We shared our time-lapse video; our regularly updated Flickr photo album; and the new

school via a virtual tour. Numerous neighbors who initially expressed concerns about the

construction process and traffic associated with the new school have since communicated their

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appreciation for how smoothly the construction process went and how much they appreciate the

new school.

Parkview Elementary School: In early September, we invited students, contractors, families,

staff and neighbors to the unveiling of Parkview’s new addition and facility improvements that

include a renovated gym, a new cafeteria and kitchen, and a new stage and music room. Student-

led tours and an open house for families followed this festive event. Throughout the planning and

construction phases of this project, we communicated the progress through facility updates via

email with links to Parkview’s time-lapse camera: our Flickr photo album; and letters and

postcards to neighbors and families.

Fields: During this reporting period, the High School Turf Fields Advisory Group met five times

including a regional tour of turf fields in our area. Meeting minutes, presentations and supporting

documentation were shared on the district website. Prior to the formation of the advisory group,

neighbors around Squalicum and Bellingham high schools were mailed an invitation to apply for

the advisory group. Neighbors received two more updates, one in February and another in May. A

community meeting was hosted at Squalicum High School on Feb. 24, 2016. All families and

community members were invited via email (approximately 11,000 people). Neighbors around

Bellingham and Squalicum high schools were mailed invitations (about 300 people) and Principal

James Everett reminded the Squalicum families of the meeting (about 1,300 people).

Approximately 40 people attended the community meeting including advisory group members and

district staff. Community members had the opportunity to email or submit letters of support or

concern following the meeting. Ten people submitted additional feedback after the meeting, with

five of those being from the same family. Though there was some concern expressed regarding the

fields, reception was generally positive. A recommendation was presented to me on March 23,

2016 and accepted in mid-April. Construction began on the Squalicum High School field at the

end of May. Neighbors were notified again on May 12, 2016. An update was shared with the

community on June 17, 2016 including a link to the field construction camera. The field was

completed in August and celebrated on Nov. 3, 2016.

Food Services and Wellness: Nationally, we have been visiting and studying other school

districts that have transformed their food services programs. As a result, communications

regarding food and wellness took special focus in the last reporting period. These include:

Helping to develop the Food Services vision statement with the Food Services Advisory Group;

Supporting the community presentation by Chef Ann at the Mt. Baker Theatre with

community-wide promotion (posters, school newsletter content, School Messenger

messages) and the introductory PowerPoint slides and sharing the story of her visit in

schools.

Supporting Food Services with new menu branding, production and distribution, including

consistent monthly messaging to families about Harvest of the Month. Menus had not

received support from Communications in the past and therefore, were not shared with

families via email or with families of secondary children, and were not translated. This

changed during the last reporting period. A particularly sensitive issue was the removal of

chocolate milk from the school menu. Other districts shared that this has been contentious.

Therefore, we took extra care to communicate this change last spring with staff and

families in multiple ways, then again this summer in the Family Handbook, which included

menus for the first time.

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Developing a wellness policy with the Wellness Policy Advisory Group.

Partnering with the Whatcom Community Foundation to develop, recruit and hire a food

services leader in November 2016 to guide the transformation of our program.

New district websites: We launched a new public facing district website and 23 school sites on

Aug. 29, 2016. Our new school websites were designed with families in mind. After an extensive

process, we worked with designers at Tray Creative (the same designers who built the Promise

website) to create navigation that was simplified, make our website mobile responsive (accessible

on smart phones) and accessible to people with visual and hearing impairments. Instead of

focusing on how we internally organize ourselves, we focused on how families may search for

information on our website. Part of this process included a content audit of all webpages. We re-

organized the district website from 600 webpages to less than 200. This allowed us to archive or

delete outdated information and focus on sharing only relevant information with the public. In

addition to this process, we moved staff-focused information to the staff intranet.

Two significant challenges emerged during the design and development process:

OCR Complaint – We received a complaint from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in May

2016 regarding accessibility of our website while we were in the midst of our design

process. Thankfully, website accessibility was already one of our project goals and work

was under way. The origin of the complaint was unknown to us, and we later learned

through a national press release that OCR was using a publicity strategy to further this goal

by selecting a handful of school districts nationally as an example.

We entered a Voluntary Resolution Agreement on June 15, 2016. We submitted our first

Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to OCR on July 15, 2016. The websites were launched in

anticipation of our Sept. 1, 2016 deadline with the Office of Civil Rights to release our

new website. Our previous website was based on 2008 technology that would have made it

difficult to achieve Benchmarks for Website Accessibility via Web Content Accessibility

Guidelines 2.0. Since July, we have contracted with the Bureau of Internet Accessibility

(BoIA). BoIA audited our website and presented us with a web developer’s guide that is

guiding our work as we continue to refine our district website to meet accessibility

benchmarks; we have also been working closely with a Columbia parent who is blind and

is providing feedback to our team. This has been an area of new learning for our staff and a

challenging process. We are currently awaiting feedback from OCR on our 4th revised

Corrective Action Plan. Meanwhile, a significant number of school districts nationally are

now receiving OCR complaints on their websites and have contacted BPS for guidance and

support, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Newport Virginia, Lake Washington, Philadelphia

and Tacoma public schools.

Web Development – We started working with our web developer in the spring and it wasn’t

until close to launch in August 2016 that we became aware of and started to experience

issues related to their work performance. With a favorable contract in place for the district,

we engaged legal counsel and terminated our work with the previous developer. We then

started working with a new developer that is highly responsive and skilled in working with

very complex, multi-faceted district and school websites. They are currently working on

ensuring our website is mobile responsive and meets OCR accessibility requirements.

Feedback from staff and families has been positive. Staff members appreciate the

intuitiveness and easy platform for adding web content, and they will receive additional

training for making this content accessible for people with disabilities. Other

improvements with our new district website include our staff and student blogs. Principals

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at Birchwood, Cordata, Fairhaven and Kulshan are sharing blogs with families as a new

communications tool. At Lowell Elementary, students are blogging, all of which is now

possible with our new websites.

Restraint and isolation: In the last report, we shared dress code as a communications challenge.

In this report, we share a notable rise in public records requests, which have been increasing since

2013. Thus far in 2016, we have had 39 public records requests (which does not include media

requests), compared with about 19 requests in 2011. Statewide, there is a trend of growing public

records requests, according to the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA).

Generally, we try to share information openly on our website and through other methods so people

don’t need to ask for it. However, most requests that we receive are specific to individual staff

email or students. One such request during this reporting period regarding restraint and isolation

generated Seattle media coverage. The Seattle Times made requests for public records and general

information related to new data released by the state on isolation and restraint of students. The

news reporters were interested in statistics regarding one student at Sehome High School who was

restrained by staff 617 times in six months. It was a sensitive story and we worked with and

notified the student’s parents, staff and administration about what we can and cannot share with

media based on student/family privacy laws. We gave the Times what we were able to and also

provided additional context for why/how restraint and isolation could be used in a school setting,

staff training around these techniques, etc. The Times published this article in November; KGMI

News also interviewed our special education director about this story, and he was able to provide

thoughtful background to a challenging story.

Equity: As part of our One Schoolhouse strategy, staff have been working on policies and

procedures related to fundraising. During this reporting period, we announced in the Back-to-

School packet the elimination of middle and high school pay-to-play athletics, and received many

emails of gratitude and support from parents and staff. We also celebrated the success of our

middle school PTSAs for their collaborative fundraising efforts and I published an op-ed in the

Herald on the topic in The Bellingham Herald on Nov. 13, 2016. We also shared this with staff

and families, and the conversation regarding disparities in our community appears to be gathering

momentum.

2. The superintendent may not fail to:

a. Use multiple media resources to connect with appropriate stakeholders to provide

relevant information, including, but not limited to:

i. Community and School newsletter(s):

o Three times per year in the fall, winter and spring, the Department of

Communications and Community Relations produces a community newsletter

called InsideSchools: 53,000 are printed for saturation to the entirety of school

district postal routes, including both businesses and residences. The purpose of

this newsletter is to inform stakeholders about our schools and engage them in

the collective work of The Bellingham Promise. InsideSchools is also published

online and shared via email and our website.

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New this reporting period: During this reporting period, the school board

started writing a new column that further explains policy governance (noted as

an area for improvement in last year’s monitoring response.) The photo below

shows page 7 of the spring 2016 newsletter.

o School Newsletters/Blogs. SchoolMessenger is our communications system

that is integrated with our student information database Skyward. Through

SchoolMessenger, both the district and schools are able to reach families and

staff by email, phone and text. Along with district messaging, a majority of

principals use the system to send weekly or monthly messages or newsletters to

regularly inform their families about the calendar or about school news. This

fall, the Department of Communications and Community Relations started to

develop a Best Practices Guide for Communicating with Families to share

resources among principals, including the content that parents need/want, the

frequency and mode (phone, email, text) of distribution, and translations. To

begin, principals reviewed some national articles with school-to-home

communications tips from other school districts. Communications staff also

held a Communications Boot Camp for new administrators in October 2016 and

met with middle school principals this fall to share best practices.

Communications staff are currently working with Highline Public Schools to

learn about their use of newsletter templates. In addition, this year, five of our

principals have created and written their own blogs. Here are a couple of

notable examples of school newsletter communications:

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o

Interpretation and Translation Services: The part-time position of interpretation and translation

coordinator moved from the Department of Communications and Community Relations this fall to

the Department of Family Engagement. This is allowing for more cross-training of staff who do

this work in Family Engagement and for Communications to meet more communications needs as

evidenced in this report. Both departments work collaboratively to provide translation of key

communications.

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Media Coverage: With the decline of mass media in recent decades, we function as our own

newsroom while continuing to pitch story ideas to media and respond to their requests. Three

noteworthy stories during the last reporting period: KOMO TV News came to Bellingham in

August 2016 two times to do television stories related to our new volunteer online program and

elimination of “pay-to-play” athletics in our middle and high schools. The stories were widely

seen and shared as a source of pride for our staff, families and community. KIRO Radio did an

in-depth interview/feature story about the work we are doing to help families beyond the school

day, including the ways we help families who struggle with homelessness. A reporter came to

Bellingham in July to talk with our homeless liaison, a Birchwood Elementary mother whom I

spent time with during a “Walking in the Shoes” experience, and me. They aired our interviews

during the morning show with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien. I was also interviewed by KGMI

Radio in May following my “Walking in the Shoes” with a transgender student at Squalicum. We

talked about our efforts to be more inclusive and thoughtful of LGBTQ students.

ii. School Board Meetings and Materials

o Our board meeting materials are on the website and available before each

meeting.

b. Annually communicate short-term and long-term district and school strategic plans

describing the initiatives and programs to achieve student outcomes as described in

the board’s Ends policies.

We continue to organize and promote school board linkages. During this reporting

period, the school board met with community health providers, higher education

professionals and behavioral health professionals. Information about community

linkages is on our district website, including summaries and schedules.

The Bellingham Promise is referenced in most of our communications. During this

reporting period, we have published 78 Promise stores with 31,114 page views. We

also have a new format for emailing these to staff and families.

The annual development of our Priorities for Progress continues to serve as a key

communications tool for sharing our areas of focus and use of resources. The

newest iteration was sent home to all families as part of the back-to-school packet

in early August 2016. The Priorities for Progress now provides the foundation for

our annual Budget Development Process. New in this reporting period was

Communications support in the development and production of the Final Budget

Book in a new, expanded format.

The Bellingham Promise posters have been updated to include the three categories

of Outcomes (knowledge, action, character) and an updated sentence in the Mission

statement reflecting gender neutral, non-binary language (“All students will be

exceptional in their own way…”). To further understanding of this board policy,

we created an internal video of students who are LGBTQ talking about the

challenges they face at school and it is being shared during staff professional

development.

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c. Provide public, parents and students relevant information on student progress

toward achieving board’s Ends policies.

The Department of Communications and Community Relations includes and

highlights the 16 outcomes in The Bellingham Promise in much of what it

communicates to staff, families and our community, including the Promise site, our

storytelling tool, and general communications (press releases and blogs) from the

superintendent, the Department of Teaching and Learning and our schools. We tie

nearly everything to our outcomes, for example, the technology levy is not only

connected to our promise to develop students and graduates who are skilled users

of technology,” but also to “innovators and creators,” artists, performers and

tradespeople,” “scientists and mathematicians” and much more.

Our schools and staff, with assistance from Communications and Community

Relations, regularly communicate with families in person (teacher/parent

conferences) and via web (Skyward), email, social media and postal mail regarding

student progress, including progress reports, report cards, graduation requirements

and state assessments.

Students at Lowell Elementary School are using the new blogging feature on our

school websites. Here are examples of student blogs:

Hiking and Learning at Mountain School (5th Grade Blog)

Girls on the Run (3rd Grade Blog)

We continue to use The Bellingham Promise website to share stories about The

Bellingham Promise in action in our schools and community. Below are the top 10

most viewed Promise stories for this reporting period:

Five Teachers in Bellingham Public Schools Attain National Board Certification in

2015

Category: Educators in Action

Outcomes: Confident Individuals Who Challenge Themselves (character)

Successful middle-school fundraiser divides the funds equally

Category: Community in Action

Outcomes: Leaders, Collaborators and Team Players (character)

Morgan Schwab Recognized as 2016 One Schoolhouse Award Winner

Category: Educators in Action

Outcomes: Artists, Performers and Trades People (knowledge), Well-Rounded

Community Members (action)

Weston Inducted in Washington Dance/Drill Coach Hall of Fame

Category: Educators in Action

Outcomes: Confident Individuals Who Challenge Themselves (character), Healthy,

Active Individuals (action)

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Sasquatch Superbowl Champions 2016

Category: Students and Families in Action

Outcomes: Readers and Writers (knowledge)

District Musicians and Singers Compete at Solo/Ensemble; First Place Winners

Advance to State Music Contest 2016

Category: Students and Families in Action

Outcomes: Artists, Performers and Trades People (knowledge)

Options Student Competes in CrossFit Open Games

Category: Students and Families in Action

Outcomes: Confident Individuals Who Challenge Themselves (character), Healthy,

Active Individuals (action)

Future Problem Solvers Advance to International Competition

Category: Students and Families in Action

Outcomes: Confident Individuals Who Challenge Themselves (character), Critical

Thinkers and Problem-Solvers (action), Effective Communicators (action)

Squalicum Senior Named Youth of the Year by Whatcom Boys and Girls Club

Category: Students and Families in Action

Outcomes: Confident Individuals Who Challenge Themselves (character), Leaders,

Collaborators and Team Players (character)

BHS Teacher Jamie Yoos Receives Excellence in Teaching Award

Category: Educators in Action

Outcomes: Scientists and Mathematicians (knowledge)

The Bellingham Promise Website Statistics

The chart above (Dec. 2015 to Nov. 2016) shows the spike in page views after each

communication to families, staff and community about our latest Promise stories.

Also from EL-3:

d. Provide an affirmative (or negative) statement that the following actions have been

taken:

ii. Maintain a process to timely address student, parent, and stakeholder

concerns;

Affirmative. The process is outlined on page 5 of the Family Handbook.

The Department of Teaching and Learning and other Executive Team

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members meet regularly with parents and others who need their concerns

addressed. These proactive communications practices, in support of policy

governance, have resulted in a dramatic decrease in the past several years in

the number of complaints reaching the school board. During this reporting

period, 6 individuals spoke at board meetings expressing concerns or

sharing information, and 20 submitted Listening Posts containing

complaints (we have approximately 7,500 district parents, 11,000 students

and 55,000 households and businesses within district attendance areas).

Parents or community members who email or call the district with concerns

typically receive a phone call, email or an offer to meet with an Executive

Team member or staff member. Our staff do not shy away from resolving

conflict and strive to model the tenets of The Bellingham Promise to act as

respectful and compassionate humans.

iii. Appropriately utilize community advisory groups on important questions;

Affirmative. The Department of Communications and Community

Relations helps develop the committee processes with district and school

leaders, then publicizes the call for applicants, attends the group’s meetings

and assists with strategic communications for internal and external

audiences. The following groups were active during this reporting period:

Facilities

New Sehome High School Educational Specifications/Design Advisory

Committee

1. High School Turf Fields Advisory Group

2. Transportation Levy Planning Committee

Teaching and Learning 1. Community Transitions Partnership Advisory Group

2. CTE General Advisory Council

3. GRADS Advisory Committee

4. Farm-to-School Advisory Group

5. Family Partnership Program Advisory Group

6. Highly Capable Learning Parent Advisory Committee

7. High School Schedule Implementation Advisory Group

8. Joint District-BEA Professional Development Study Committee

9. Special Education Parent Advisory Committee

10. Student Technology Think Tank

11. Teaching and Learning Advisories

Superintendent 1. Parent Advisory Committee

2. Student Advisory Committee

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Other 1. Occupational Health & Safety Committee

2. Promise Awards Advisory Group

Statement of Compliance: The superintendent is in compliance with EL-3.