Posted November 19, 2005

Seattle - The school boards of the Battle Ground, Okanogan, and West Valley (Spokane) school districts have been named 2005 Boards of the Year by the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA). The prestigious awards recognize school boards that have demonstrated outstanding efforts and accomplishments in promoting student achievement.

Members of the three boards were honored Friday during the association’s annual conference in Seattle. The awards, which include a gift of $500 from the Washington State School Boards Educational Foundation, are presented to one each from a small, medium and large school district.

Award recipients submitted essays describing what the school board has done to improve student achievement. Essays were judged on several criteria, including the board’s vision and leadership, efforts to work as a team with the district administration, clearly-described lessons that will benefit other school boards, and a thoughtful implementation plan.

Battle Ground School Board
The Battle Ground School Board is honored as the School Board of the Year for districts with more than 5,000 students. Members of the board during the past year were Sam Kim, Karen Lehman, Mark Pelletier, David Sonntag and Frederick Striker. The district superintendent is Shonny Bria.

The Battle Ground essay noted that the district faced tremendous challenges nine years ago, including triple levy/bond failures, poor academic achievement, financial instability, failing facilities and low employee morale. In response, the board launched a collaborative process that brought together the management team, community members and union representatives to accomplish three goals – improve community and district trust, improve student achievement, and improve district facilities.

Through the collaborative model, known as the Interest Based Approach, input is solicited from all stakeholders within the district and decisions are reached through agreement and consensus.

According to the essay, the IBA process led to a number of successes, including:

• Passage of three levies
• Upgrading of bond rating to one of highest in state and passage of $100 million bond
• Major improvement/upgrades in district facilities
• Interest-based negotiations, eliminating need for bargaining, grievances, and arbitration
• Sustained yearly improvement in Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores in all subjects and grade levels
• District meeting federally required Adequate Yearly Progress from 2003 through 2005
• Establishment of half-day kindergarten
• $1 million Small School Learning Community grant
• K-12 Reading Intervention program identified by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction as “model program”

West Valley (Spokane) School Board
School Board of the Year for a district with 1,001 to 5,000 students is awarded to the West Valley School Board in Spokane. Members of the board during the past year were Robert Dompier, Debbie Hjortedal, Pamela McLeod, Robert Wentworth and James Williams. The district superintendent is Polly Crowley.

Beginning in 1993, the West Valley board adopted a communitywide strategic planning process to develop a vision, mission, and five-year plan with goals to guide the work of the board, superintendent, administrators, and staff.

In keeping with the plan, particularly those goals targeting student achievement, the board has promoted the development of innovative programs to provide personalization, relevance and rigor: SPICE, a K-6 program in which parents are highly involved; an Outdoor Learning Center where students and teachers experience hands-on science; a Projects Based High School that integrates community service with student enterprise; and City School, a middle school that functions like a city. City School received the coveted Magna Award in 2003.

In 2005 the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction recognized the West Valley School District as one of 15 in Washington that “outperformed” compared to districts with similar poverty. The board celebrates district successes by sponsoring an annual Community Block Party.

Okanogan School Board
The Okanogan School Board is honored as the School Board of the Year for districts with 1,000 or fewer students. Members of the board during the past year were Katherine Brown, Jane Cline, Peter Goldmark, Kory Heindselman and Joe Mitschelen. The district superintendent is Richard Johnson.

Following completion of a five-year strategic plan, the Okanogan board directed its attention to three areas to improve student achievement:

• Increase the district’s focus on academic achievement
• Develop a separate middle school identity
• Seek external resources for school improvement

The essay notes that the board faced difficult decisions with regard to each of these areas. It authorized the use of district funds to employ a Learning Improvement Coordinator, a financial commitment “unheard of” in a community that ranks among the top in the state in unemployment. The board also voted to close the sixth grade building and incorporate the sixth grade students into a new middle school, despite strong opposition.

In February 2004 the district passed a maintenance and operations levy with a 67 percent yes vote. In April of 2005, less than two years after the school closure, the community approved a bond for a new middle school with a 68% yes vote.

Okanogan has been recognized for its success in improving scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. At the 4th grade, the percentage of students meeting standard in math went from 49.2% to 61.4% and in reading from 54% to 80%. At the middle school, mathematics scores rose from 15.9% to 42.3% and reading from 36.2% to 66.7%. In the 10th grade, mathematics increased from 20.7% to 29.5%, and in reading 46.3% to 75.3%. Also, all Okanogan schools met federal requirements for Adequate Yearly Progress.

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