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ZILLAH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 205
MINUTES
School Board of Directors – Regular Meeting
Thursday, February 24, 2022 - 7:00 p.m.
Zillah Middle School Commons-Live In-Person Meeting (All Healthy Washington Roadmap to
Recovery Plan, applicable state guidance, and the Open Public Meetings Act requirements will
be followed) and Via ZOOM Technology
TIME AND PLACE:

A School Board of Directors-Regular Meeting was held on Thursday,
February 24, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was held at Zillah Middle
School Commons and via ZOOM Technology.

ATTENDANCE:

Board Members: Jeff Brady, Darrin Belton, Dennis Jones, Thomas
Fender, and Nicole Garcia Schmelzer
Administrators: Doug Burge, Justin Irion
Business Manager:
Recording Secretary: Sonia Ruggles
Guests:

CALL TO ORDER

Meeting called to order at 7:08 p.m. by Jeff Brady. Jeff Brady, Dennis
Jones, Darrin Belton, Thomas Fender, and Nicole Garcia Schmelzer
were in attendance.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender
to approve the January 27, 2022 Board Work Session, Regular
School Board Meeting Minutes. All in favor motion carried.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender
to approve the agenda. All in favor motion carried.

HEARING SESSION:
Will Scarlett addressed with the following. My name is Will Scarlett and I am part of the Unified
Zillah. I want to apologize to the school board
for causing offense. Members of the group started meeting last July/August. We came together
to address the school board in various school board meetings because of concerns we have with
the Zillah School district obviously. We weren’t anti school, we weren’t angry mob, we had
legitimate concerns. We were very concerned about the COVID restrictions, like everybody in
the country is. Imposed by the Governor. We had concerns about CRT., educational quality and
sex ed. The COVID restrictions, masking, etc., etc. The Board responded. First part of the
letter was a little bit dishonest. It said the studies show….and there are no studies. Then they
said it was mandated by the Governor. Ok, I get it. I understand the bad situation you guys are
in. CRT, we attempted to address CRT, my first knowledge about it was that House Bill 5044
that mandated that Board Members and educators be educated in CRT. We don’t use CRT but
we aren’t going to talk semantics here. My first reaction is I am going to call Dennis Jones
because I have known him for years. Hey, what is this…he really did not know. He contacted
Justin which he told me and then he called me back and I appreciated this because I am really

upset about this. And he called me back and said we are not mandated to teach anything that the
district can choose what to teach. OK cool. That was in like June. Fast forward to the debacle
in Connell, ugly situation. I wasn’t there, not going to comment on what happened there. But I
am going to comment on the district response. Was to bring in a CRT umm agitator that stirred
things up. There is a whole lot more things that I want to say and ,my time is about up. All I
want to say is that our group is not anti-Zillah school district group. We are a group that has
concerns and we feel like we are ignored by the Board.
Mike Collins addressed the board with the following. Let me start by saying I am not opposed to
sexual education in our schools. But I believe our children and students are best served by
sticking to the true science and biology of sex and for the most part that is what is done in the
Zillah School District. However, there is a component that is presented under the editing of
gender identity. This includes the subject of transgender, disgender, nonbinary gender, and the
list could go on. In the year 2013 the term gender identity disorder was changed to gender
dysphoria. Dysphoria meaning and I quote an emotional state characterized by anxiety,
depression or unease end quote. According to the MAYO Clinic gender dysphoria is and I quote
“a diagnosis listed in the diagnosis and statistical manual of mental disorders a manual
published by the American Pediatrics Association to diagnose mental conditions” Now please
mark my words for the minutes of this meeting and anyone taking notes to pass on. I am not
downplaying or dismissing gender dysphoria but I am asking why is it being presented in a
sexual education curriculum to our students and this beginning in the 6th grade. These are very
impressionable children ages 11-12. Even up into High school students who are 17-18 years old
as seniors are still impressionable students. By identifying and defining the terminology we
normalize it. Kids these days have enough obstacles to manipulate through their preteen and
teen years. Puberty, hormones, bodily changes, crushes, relationships, dating, social media,
bullying can be very private these days. Children experiencing gender dysphoria need support
from a highly trained medical professional in that field with the support of their parents. Let’s
stick with scientific facts for sexual education classes, male and female. Leave gender dysphoria
in the hands of parents and medical professionals where it should and needs to be. So I am
asking you to place this topic on your next work session agenda for an open discussion. If you
feel this needs to be part of the sexual education curriculum them please tell us why? If not then
please pass a motion to remove it and have our superintendents do so. It may be too late for this
year but yet again let’s stick with reproducible scientific facts. I know that entire chapters of the
proposed sex education curriculum have been disregarded and I am very thankful for that. I
hope you will add the gender identity sections better titled gender dysphoria sections to the
disregarded curriculum.
There was no more comments for the Board tonight so Mr. Brady concluded the hearing session.
I.

INFORMATION AGENDA
A.

Superintendent/Assistant Superintendent Report
1.
Enrollment Report
Mr. Burge reported the FTE for the month of February is 1263. This has
been the highest number we have had all year.
2.
Legislative Session Update
Mr. Burge reported that the legislature is in day 44 of the session. The
last day to have all house bills passed is March 4th. Funding initiatives

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

include prototypical model, enrollment stabilization, and transportation
changes for funding purposes.
2022-2023 School Calendar Approval
Mr. Burge is asking the board to approve the 2022-2023 school calendar
that has already been discussed and agreed with the unions of the district.
Student and Staff COVID Quarantine Information
Mr. Burge shared the information on COVID numbers. The numbers
show a bit of a decline in our students and staff compared to last month.
Levy Information
Mr. Burge shared the stats for Levy results from local school districts in
ESD 105 including Zillah. Very happy about the Levy passing for the
Zillah School District. Thank you to all the people on the levy committee
who helped out.
CBA Information-ZPSE, ZEA, ZCA
Mr. Burge shared that he has started working with our unions for contract
negotiations. They are all on 3-year contracts.
Calendar Change – Remainder of 2021-2022
Mr. Burge shared the updates on current school year calendar. The
district had to revise calendar for the three make up snow days.
HES ESEA Award Report-National Conference
Mr. Irion discussed the recent Trip to the National Conference to receive
the ESEA Award. Was very proud to update that Hilton was 1 of 49
schools in the whole nation to receive this award. The Breakout sessions
were very informative and all staff attending enjoyed the opportunity.
State Audit Information-Craig McCloud
Mr. Burge shared that the state audit will be starting this Monday February 28,
2022. The Audit will be a single financial audit looking through ESSER Funds.
Graduation Requirements Update
Mr. Irion shared updates on graduation requirements such as CTE
Pathway. These were shared during the works session and can be seen on
One Note. The state has allowed many different options for our students
now.
State Testing Update
Mr. Irion shared we are currently doing the WIDA testing which is our
language efficiency testing. Secondary students have already started the
process with Christine Champie. Alexis Williamson (Higginbotham) is
starting next week with the Elementary students. We should be done with
the English Language proficiency testing by early March. State testing to
start by end of March.
Summer School Plans
We will have a plan in place to best meet the needs of students. We found
last year that creating a fun environment and not a punishment but as an
enrichment opportunity for our elementary students. In the secondary
level we are going to rely on an in person and virtual component.
Leaving it to individual student to most maximize student’s time.
SCWIN Visit

The district hosted this week the SCWIN (South Central Washington
Instructional Network) meeting that has met for 25 years. They came to
observe Hilton Elementary to observe and see where the success is coming
from. Observed classrooms, and gave constructive feedback.
B.

II.

Dates of Importance
1.
March 3, 2022-2nd Semester Ends
2.
March 4, 2022-5th District Directed Optional Day/Certified Staff-Non-Student Day
3.
March 7, 2022-Make Up Snow Day #1, 3rd Semester Begins (62 days)
4.
March 24, 2022- Board Work Session-6:00 p.m.-Zillah Middle School
5.
March 24, 2022- Regular Board Meeting-7:00 p.m.-Zillah Middle School
6.
March 31-April 1, 2022-Parent/Teacher Conferences-No School
7.
April 4-8, 2022-Spring Break-No School

ACTION AGENDA
A.

Personnel-(Approval)
1.
Retirement
a.
Caren Moritz- Teacher-HES
2.
Resignation
a.
Sierra Simmons-Staff Assistant
3.
New Hire
a.
Yesenia Sanchez-Assistant Track Coach-ZHS
b.
Tina Bass-AM Bus Staff Assistant
c.
Italia Quigley-5th Grade Teacher-Leave Replacement-Remainder of the
21/22 School Year.
d.
Melissa Favilla-Assistant Track Coach-ZMS-BON
Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve personnel items
1., a. Retirement., 2., a. Resignation., 3., a-d. New Hires. All in favor motion carried.

Policy Review-2nd Reading-(Approval/Adoption)
1.
Policy No. 2161-Special Education and Related Services for Eligible Students
2.
Procedure No. 2161P-Special Education and Related Services for Eligible
Students
3.
Procedure No. 3115P-Student Experiencing Homelessness-Enrollment Rights and
Services
4.
Procedure No. 3226P-Interview and Interrogation of Students on School Premises
5.
Policy No. 3246-Restraint, Isolation, and Other Uses of Reasonable Force
6.
Procedure No. 3246P-Restraint, Isolation, and Other Uses of Reasonable Force
7.
Policy No. 5400-Personnel Leaves
8.
Policy No. 5410-Holidays
9.
Policy No. 6220-Bid or Request for Proposal Requirements
Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve and adopt Policy
Items 1-9., 2nd Reading. All in favor motion carried.
B.

C.
2022-2023 School Calendar-(Approval)
Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve the 2022-2023 School
Calendar. All in favor motion carried.
III.

BUDGET STATUS
Total ending cash, investments and adjustments at the end of January 31, 2022 was
$3,755,280.36 . Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve
Budget Status. All in favor motion carried.

IV.

PAYROLL AND VOUCHERS
Payroll-$1,224,612.40; ASB Acct.-$30,186.89; General Fund Acct. Payable$242,192.78 .
Motion was made by Dennis Jones, second by Darrin Belton approve Payroll and
Vouchers. All in favor motion carried.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting was adjourned at 7:52 p.m.
_______________________
Board Chairperson

ATTEST:
_______________________
Secretary