Executive director of learning and teaching Cinco Delgado talked about Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Delgado said it takes a mind shift for a staff to support it.

“In my era it (discipline) was punishment based,” he said. “This focuses on positive expectations.”

If staff agrees, the district would like to use PBIS.

Superintendent Becky Berg said, “It’s not a hard sell once you see the research.”

School Board Member Pete Lundberg added: “Principals can’t make teachers do this. It would be best if teachers take the lead.”

The district touched on many other goals at the session.

As she looked over the list of programs, Berg said she was “Wow’d at how much has been done. But we’re not done yet.”

Related to the goal of engaging the community, Berg said a family partnership coordinator has been hired.

Executive director of learning and teaching Kyle Kinoshita said the district is trying to recruit more parent volunteers. He said he would like to see more diversity represented.

Delgado said two-thirds of teachers have learned about the new evaluation process.

Berg said it is so much better than before. “They would come in, look, but not provide feedback,” she said of principals.

Delgado also said every school is using the STAR assessment and is trained on how to use the data to make curriculum decisions.

Kinoshita also talked about interventions being used in schools.

“We’re increasing collaboration and addressing kids’ needs to make sure no kids fall through the cracks,” he said.

Director of categorical programs Scott Irwin added, “We are differentiating interventions to meet their individual needs.”

Assistant superintendent Ray Houser talked about efforts to foster positive partnerships with the Tulalip Tribes. He said breakfast meetings are continuing, and the tribes are working to localize curriculum with Tulalip history.

Career and Technical Education coordinator Donneta Oremus talked about how the program is connecting students to local businesses, leading to employment.

Under the goal of inspiring students, Irwin talked about AVID, which expanded from three to five schools this year and stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. Lundberg asked what the long-term plan is for AVID, but no one had an answer. Irwin did share statistics on how successful the program is, such as improving attendance and grade point average.

Kinoshita talked about embracing different cultures of students, saying 500 will attend the Students of Color conference March 26.

Under the goal of preparing graduates for new economic and social realities, Technology director Scott Beebe said WiFi will be available districtwide soon, and the Technology Road Show will visit all campuses this spring to communicate changes in policy.

And Kinoshita talked about a $500,000 grant the district received for a math-science partnership.

Meanwhile, Katherine Jordan, a science and math teacher at Arts and Tech High School on the Tulalip campus, fired up the meeting during the public comment period.

She complained about the district not responding to requests for help.

“It’s like we’re stranded on an island out of the shipping zone,” she said. Despite district efforts to close the gap, she said it still feels like the school is on “our side of the tracks.”

Jordan, who has been there for 17 years, said there is not enough staff for the general population and special education students. When compared with other schools in the district, “where’s the equity?” she asked.

Jordan also said safety is deteriorating at the school, as is evident by sheriff cars often being there.

“Violence is acceptable” to many of the students, and they need to learn conflict resolution, she added.

In other news at the March 16 meeting:

• Marysville-Pilchuck High School students Drew Hatch and Sage Fairbanks were named Students of the Month.

Sage has a 3.75 grade point average at M-P and 3.55 gpa at Everett Community College, as she’s a Running Start student. She is a National Honor Society member, takes Advance Placement chemistry and had a Scholastic Aptitude Test score of 2000. She was freshman class president and French Club secretary. She’s been involved in the Special Needs Prom, Big Buddy Program and Senior Citizens Play and Dinner. But Drama Club is her favorite. “I’ve been in all the plays,” she said. She was secretary-treasurer and then president of the club. She was assistant director of “Mary Poppins” and assistant musical director of “Little Shop of Horrors.” She also works at Papa Murphy’s. She is considering going to the University of San Diego.

Drew, who plans to attend Oregon State, has been a standout football player and wrestler for four years. He was captain of the wrestling for three years and football team his senior year. He had a 3.45 gpa last year and has been involved in DECA for two years. Leadership roles include: setting up for school events, tutoring, helping at the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club, volunteer wrestling and football coach for six and three years, Special Olympics volunteer for three years, and helping with meetings and healing since the school shooting. He recently started a Big Buddy program at Kellogg Marsh.

• New Principal Eneille Nelson gave a report on Kellogg Marsh Elementary. She said her goal when she started this year was to strengthen school culture and care for the staff. She has worked to have a consistent behavior system for students, who were taught expectations and shown what that looked like. She also has worked to connect to the community, especially English language learners. She has coffees with those parents and learned they wanted to be taught English. So, classes have been set up for that. M-P and Marysville Getchell high school students are helping to mentor students there. School safety also was a concern, so Nelson has locked many doors to mainstream traffic and increase supervision. That way classes can have fewer interruptions, she said.

• Director of assessment and student information services Jack Monpas-Huber explained how the North Star Indicators take 20 minutes and have 4,400 possibilities. Taking it helps see where a student is in learning progression patterns. Questions vary in order and how hard they are. “It’s like marking your kids’ height with a pencil,” to see where they are, he said. He added that district-wide scores were better in math than English, and better at younger grades than high school. He also noted, maybe not surprisingly, that attendance numbers show a “wave pattern,” with more students gone around the weekend than midweek.

• Brynn Marcum, who student-taught at Pinewood Elementary nine years ago, was announced as its new principal, replacing Brent Williams, who is retiring after 21 years. Also, Jim McNally was named assistant principal at Totem Middle and Don Lichty the same spot at M-P. Both are retired administrators returning to work.

• The board was expected to approve a new mission and vision statement; salary schedule for administrators; fund transfer to pay bills; and to enter contract negotiations with the firm Hutteball and Oremus for architect selection for the M-P cafeteria project.

• Students Ashley Seed and Abbie Allen were honored for winning music awards.