Marysville School District Recovery Director Mary Schoenfeldt found that out during a recent trip to the East Coast. Following the killings at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in October, Schoenfeldt is trying to learn all she can to help this community heal.

“They are not parenting the same way as before the shooting,” Schoenfeldt said at a district work session Feb. 9. “They are trying to avoid conflicts with their kids. They’re so thankful their child is alive.”

While that is understandable, the local school board agreed that is not in the best interest of the child.

As an example, Schoenfeldt said a parent won’t take an I-phone away or stop their child from playing video games to make them do their homework.

“Parents won’t draw that line,” she said.

Board member Mariana Maksimos said: “We can’t let that happen. The kids will get lost.”

District officials agreed they will need to reach out to parents and help them in their efforts to make sure their kids continue to care about academics. Superintendent Becky Berg mentioned the district’s Parent Academy could be one way to connect with parents.

Schoenfeldt said in Newtown she talked with the superintendent, police chief, board members, counselors, teachers and community members.

We should have sought “mental health help sooner” was a common comment from all, the recovery director said.

That was done from the start at M-PHS.

“We have built an infrastructure of services for community wellness,” Schoenfeldt said, adding building relationships with people is key.

She said one Newtown board member teared up during their discussion.

“Nobody came to us” to see how we were doing, she quotes the board member as saying. “Don’t forget to support leadership,” Schoenfeldt added.

Another thing she learned in Newtown is to reach out and partner with the community, possibly even getting employees on loan from businesses and organizations.

As an example she mentioned Children’s Hospital in Seattle, which has been asking to help from the start. Now, they are starting a conversation about sharing their expertise on mental health with the Marysville district.

Also, M-PHS is dealing with more transfers than ever, and absentees were up among students and teachers after recent bomb threats.

Board member Bruce Larsen asked when was it that instead of just taking their own life, students wanted to take the lives of others.

Board president Tom Albright said, “It’s that fifteen minutes of fame.”

Schoenfeldt agreed, saying it seemed to start with the Columbine tragedy in Colorado.

“It’s that celebrity piece,” she said.

Also at the work session:

• Sunnyside Elementary School Principal Rhonda Moore and her staff discussed their new math curriculum that is more challenging and looks at real world applications. They discussed more challenging texts in reading and instead of making up answers students have to say, “when the text says this,” to justify their answers. One class went from 50 percent to 84 percent in reading scores. Moore said all of the teachers are self-taught in the new methods because, “We have no professional development” money.

• Also, finance director Jim Baker talked of refinancing $10 million in bonds.  The district is paying 4.25 percent to 5 percent interest, but it may be able to get a rate of 3.8 percent to 4.12 percent. The district will pay almost $2.25 million in interest in the last eight years of the bond. But that could do down significantly with a refinance.

Baker also presented a handout showing the tax rates for Marysville and surrounding districts. It shows in 2014 Marysville had a tax rate of $5.34 per thousand valuation, compared with $5.30 for Arlington and $5.27 for Lakewood. Granite Falls was highest at $7.45. In 2015, because of the technology levy, the rate will be $6.02 per thousand, compared with $5.40 in Lakewood and $5.20 in Arlington. Snohomish is the highest at $7.28.

• Career and Technical Education director Donneta Oremus gave a presentation on CTE. She said that 88 percent of CTE students graduate, compared with 77 percent overall. She said there are more options now, including: animal science, horticulture, automotive, sports marketing, accounting, web design, animation, construction, robotics, culinary arts, leadership, engineering, interior design, fashion design, photoshop, video production, theater, art, yearbook, naval science, forensics and sports medicine. She said Totem Middle School went from zero to 50 CTE kids in one year. She also said there is a seamless transition from middle to high school in CTE programs.