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ZILLAH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 205
MINUTES
School Board of Directors – Regular Meeting
Thursday, April 28, 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,
April 28, 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: Craig McCloud
Recording Secretary: Sonia Ruggles
Guests: Monika Charbonneau, Elizabeth Jensen, Mike Collins, Betty
Collins, Jacob Castillo, Carmen Mayo, Will Scarlett, Linda Hiemstra,
Larry Hiemstra

CALL TO ORDER

Meeting called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Jeff Brady. Jeff Brady, Darrin
Belton, Dennis Jones 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 February 24, 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:
Mr. Brady announced we would be going into the hearing session of the meeting.
Elizabeth Jensen stated the following: I wanted to reiterate what I said last time. I want to first
applaud Mr. Fender and Mr. Belton for actually speaking up and having discussion during a
portion of the meeting. I would like to encourage you all to do that. You know you are elected to
this board and we want to know your opinion, we want to hear you guys definitely. No
disrespect to other people but we want to hear you guys talk and so I please encourage you to
keep doing that. One thing and I don’t know we didn’t talk about the time limit today but I just
want to address the time limit. I know per the public meeting act you have the right to take
comments or not take comments however I was just wondering about the decision in limiting the
number of minutes that we are given. I wondered in what open public meeting did you discuss
that item. I have contacted the state level and asked them about this, is this something that
should be open and discussed in an open public meeting. And while the person that I talked to
was not willing to commit one way or the other she did say that if a board wants to maintain

open transparency with the constituents the voting public they should discuss matters of order,
matter of just process in an open public meeting to get their decisions on the record. Being on a
board is about your community trusting you and anything you can do for that only works in your
favor. You the board should be making those decisions and not having the decisions made for
you or perceived to be made for you by people not affected by the Open Public Meeting Act. The
last thing I wanted to bring up was a policy that you all will be talking about today, Policy 3211.
That’s the one on transgender Equality. So I just wonder if all of you read that policy, if you
discussed the policy in an open meeting and how you communicated that with parents, the policy
and the discussion. In the policy, it talks about how a student any student it doesn’t give an age
limit can be talked to about their transgender decision before their parents are consulted. So
you can have a five year old coming to you and say I want to be a boy, I was born a girl but I
want to be a boy. The school district can have that discussion with a five-year-old prior to
talking to the parent. There is also some definitions here about dysgender, gender , I just want
to point out that these are terms given to 12 year olds if they seem a little confusing to you they
definitely are confusing to the 12 year olds when they were given this education and I just want
to point that out. And it says there was an appropriate school employee that will be talking to
this transgender youth. It doesn’t define who the appropriate person is but it does say they will
be given one training to be appropriate. It is not a child psychologist, nothing like that, nobody
that is really qualified. Mr. Brady reminded her that her 3 minutes were up and please wrap it
up. And I hope you guys looked at the restroom and locker section it says we will be giving
every accommodation to the transgender youth but no real accommodation is guaranteed to the
youth that are actually using that locker room or restroom because it says should but doesn’t
guarantee they will. And if that child is uncomfortable they aren’t going to say anything. That’s
all I have.
Mike Collins had the following statement: At the February Board Meeting I brought up the
subject of gender identities and gender dysphoria in our sexual education curriculum. I asked at
that time that you our elected representatives have an open discussion on this subject at your
next work session and that you would put forth the motion to eliminate this subject from the
curriculum. What I got at your March work session was not one word from any of you, instead
Mr. Irion gave a presentation on transgenderism after which none of you asked a single
question. I don’t know what you guys got out of Mr. Irion’s information as you said nothing but
here is what I heard in a nutshell. And these are starting at 6th graders, 12 & 13 year olds. We
have to introduce gender identities and give definitions of dsygender, transgender, non-binary
gender and so on so the students can self-identify, so in other words choose a gender any gender.
Then we need to educate them about these genders so they know how to communicate their
feelings about their chosen sexual identity, this is indoctrination not education. Is that what you
want to put your stamp of approval on? I hope not, this community is one of faith and family.
Drive around on Sunday to the numerous churches in our small community and see the number
of cars present at the designated times of worship. Do you believe this gender education is what
these families want from you their elected directors. I hope not. So I am again asking you the
five board directors to have an open discussion on this topic of gender ideology in our sex ed
curriculum. Are you for it? Against it? What is its purpose? What effects is it having on our
students? I ask that one of you have the courage to put forth the motion to eliminate this
indoctrination from every level of instruction K-12 because that is what is coming. And that one
of you has the courage to second that motion and bring it to a roll call vote. As our
representatives we have the right to know where you stand on issues and it doesn’t have to be a

unanimous decision. You may disagree with many of us here, that is your right and we can
respect that unlike our superintendent who because we come before you practicing our
citizenship, our right to free speech, instead of engaging in civil discourse with us he goes out
into our community and declares us a faction with a political agenda. We all know the only
political agenda is coming from a bunch of left wing liberal woke education beaurocrats who
want to destroy the nuclear families and continue to indoctrinate kids. These kids don’t belong
to them. They belong to parents, let parents bring their kids up in the way in which they want
them to grow. True education sticks with facts, stick with the biology reproduction. XY, XX
Chromosome, male and female, two genders. I look forward to your open discussion at the next
meeting and please let those minutes reflect my request. I have just one more question. Have
you prayed today? I am praying for each one of you. Thank You.
Jacob Castillo had the following statement: My name is Jacob Castillo, my son is a student here
at the middle school. I just wanted to start out by saying I appreciate all the work that the board
does and I think the Zillah school district is a great district and that is why we moved here. That
being said, last fall I did run for a board position and I spoke to many, hundreds of community
members, went door to door, stood outside grocery stores and there was a lot of concerns that
the parents had with issues going on in school and I urged them to come out to these meetings
which is not working out very well. I still encourage them to come out. Mostly they are busy,
they are intimidated to speak in front of your guys, the reason is they feel their questions will go
unanswered. Another one which is alarming is they say that their kids will be retaliated against
if they go and say what they really feel. This isn’t just coming from one or two parents, this is
coming from dozens of parents that I have talked to. Fear of retaliation, so that is an issue. So I
said you know what I come to the meetings often and I will just have to ask some of these
questions that you guys have, I am there anyway so, I usually don’t speak but I will and ask
those questions. So I guess the question today goes along with what they were saying today. If
my daughter or son comes to a faculty member and says I am transgender, I would like to be
treated this way, I would like to be addressed this way and it is against the parents wishes. What
happens here at school, what is the process of what happens when the students says this and the
parent doesn’t agree with that. What does the school do? Who deals with it and how do we deal
with such a delicate subject. Thank You.
Carmen Mayo made the following statement. I have never spoken and only gone to a few board
meetings as it is. Most of you don’t know me, we moved here in 1996 and the reason you
probably don’t know me is because we are home schoolers. We home schooled all five of our
sons and I helped to home school other people’s children as well and in the state of Washington
that is legal. Two of our sons graduated from Zillah High School. We were very intentional
about education and so our sons began their senior year which was their first year in the public
school having completed most of their core subjects, one of our sons was only sixteen when he
was a senior. They really just wanted the experience and as they were mature young men they
did well. As you may know Washington is a home school friendly state and we only had to file
an intent to home school and promise to test our sons using a standardized test by a certified
teacher evaluation. These were always beneficial as they showed academic strengths and
weaknesses. As I look at the report card for Zillah School District which is on the Washington
state website, it is shocking to me, if any of our sons had tested that low we would have stopped
everything and focused on their weaknesses and sometimes we did. Sometimes we would take a
break from other subjects and activities and zero in on it. I realize we had an advantage because
we were teaching our sons one on one, we were using tutorial type teaching but you know as

well as I that something has to be done. We must get these standards up or what is the point of
education. Why would people send their kids to this district if 44.5 % is the standard, so we have
to stop things like social emotional learning, critical race theory, sex and gender education, and
even health department mandates, perhaps even sports and extra-curricular activities should be
stopped until standards are up. All I know that is according to the Zillah school district report
card the amount spent per student does not reflect a good return on investment and I know it is
too late to do anything this year but perhaps over the summer by September curriculum and
activities could be reassessed and changed in such a way that it would help children and families
with the core subjects. Any questions for me? Thank you for your time.
Betty Collins had the following statement: First of all I would like to say I am not going to rush
what I have to say and honor me if I go over the three minutes, also that I would like to say I
would like to say I would like to speak on my own behalf and also on behalf of a parent so I will
need more than three minutes and that is agreeable. I was approached by a parent, a young
parent of a middle school student and since the gender identity lessons were presented there is a
great deal of talk among students. This curriculum encourages introspection and declaration of
what you are. Some of the results of this according to the parent I spoke to, a female student is
being teased that she is lesbian even though she has protested against the teasers. She hugs her
friend and hangs out with all girls therefore she is being asked if she is lesbian. It is pretty
normal for a twelve year old girl to hang out with other girls. On the other side of that teasing is
bullying. How much time have we spent in this district about anti bullying and that is a crime
and these, the curriculum it seems to me has given occasion and voice to a bully. To go up to
somebody and ask them if they are lesbian. The information given has become I don’t talk at
school and social media makes it worse. There is a group on discord which is a social media
app in Zillah that is called lgbtq cult and cults are preoccupied with getting new members and
this persons daughter was asked if she would like to join. Another result of the presentation is a
female student, was thirteen years old and has decided she is a boy. Another girl thirteen has
decided she is pansexual, which is another one of those made up words because there really are
only two genders. It use to be bisexual and now we have made up another word. Another term
is pan romantic, now we all have friends that we enjoy being around, we admire them, we feel
good when we are around them and that means we have good friends. That doesn’t mean we are
panromantic, instead of loving a good friend for the sake of friendship. One girl is wondering if
she is lesbian because that is what she is being teased about. This curriculum seems to
encourage children to make decisions and declarations about their lives at a tender and
vulnerable age. They are not old enough to drive, vote, and a lot of decisions about their lives
because they are not ready. These new terms which the school has presented and defined are
causing 12-14 year olds who are at those vulnerable stages about life and themselves and
confusion about what is going on in their own bodies, even their brains are not fully developed
yet. Causing children to declare themselves as lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, pan romantic, or
some other deceitful, really deceitful term about gender. Mr. Brady let speaker know the 3
minutes has passed and please wrap up. She stated she would wrap up this one on behalf of
another person. The department of education has bought into these deceitful ideas, but I don’t
know why the Zillah school district is playing along. It is absurd and I think you would all agree
that this gender ideology is absurd, it is deceitful and it is wrong. Probably you all agree, we
cannot undo what was said but we can be more thoughtful about protecting children in the
future. And remember our motto what is best for kids. That was on behalf of a parent who did
not want to be identified because of what Jacob said and thought there would be repercussion on

the child. Now for me I am an educator we teach kids to be good thinkers, so if we present these
ideologies we also have to present facts, scientific facts, consequences, scientific research. Facts
as there are only two genders. Determined by DNA not by fumes. Gender dysphoria is a mental
disorder as defined by the MAYO clinic and is there any talk about if you decide to be a
transgender person has there been anything said about what that entails. Hormone therapy,
surgery, their surgeries are top surgery and bottom surgery. Is there any talk about what that
involves because that is serious. Mr. Brady interrupted and reminded her of time limit and
please wrap it up. Synthetic hormones are drugs and drugs are not allowed, right, drugs are bad
for you. Synthetic hormones they are bad for you. Many of these effects are irreversible. The
last thing I have to say as an educator, is that this pronoun is ridiculousness. I am an English
teacher and have been for many years. I try to teach my own kids correct grammar and the kids
at school. And using “they” for a single person is incorrect and I don’t know why we allow it in
the schools. The last thing is that I am not against Zillah schools. I am not against any of you or
the administration. I have many friends who are still teachers with the district. My husband and
I both voted yes on the levy, we have for 36 years for levies and bonds. Again we are not against
the Zillah school district, we are against some of the curriculum presented at the Zillah school
district. Thank you for allowing me a little extra time.
Mr. Brady concluded the hearing session of the meeting as no others had made requests to
speak. Mr. Scarlett then asked if he could speak as he had walked in late after Mr. Brady was
presented with the speaker list. Mr. Brady allowed his comments.
Mr. Scarlett made the following statement: I have been coming to the board meeting now for
nine months. I have heard administrators speak during the work study meetings, I have heard
reports given, I have hear a snip it of a question here and there by the board according to the
RCW’s you guys set the policy, you guys discuss the policies, you guys are the ones responsible
for the policies in the school district. There has not been any discussion in a public setting by
the school board. If you are having discussions outside the public meetings that is a no no…you
know that. CRT is here, is in society and is in the schools. The 1964 civil right act says any
differences made by race, gender, religious beliefs is against federal law. Have discussions
about it, that is all I am saying is have discussions about what is going on because it is here, it is
in society. Zillah acutally is part of the United States and it is part of the national society. Just
be thinking about it.
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 shared our average for the year is 1247. The District had a
slight dip in numbers in April but well over the budget FTE for the year.
2.
Transitional Kindergarten/Kindergarten Registration Update
Mr. Burge shared Registration for Transitional Kindergarten and
Kindergarten started the week after spring break. We currently have 29
Transitional Kindergarten, 49 rolling up from TK to Kindergarten and 13
new Kindergarten registrations bringing the total to 62. We do have 5 out
of district students on the waiting list.
3.
2021-2022 Volunteer Recognition
a.
Jaci Cochran

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Mr. Burge gave Jaci Cochran her award earlier in the day as she had a
previous commitment. Mr. Burge read a statement from Mr. Phillips
thanking her for her hard work and commitment for the district.
Redistricting Information-Resolution No. 460
a.
Open Public Comment for Redistricting Only
Mr. Burge discussed and showed maps of the current and new proposed
district director boundary maps prepared by Sammamish Data Systems.
Linda Hiemstra had questions wanting copies of the maps provided to her.
We will add more maps for more review for the public. The board
discussed tabling the resolution until the May Board Meeting for further
review for the Public.
2022-2023-Planning & Staffing
Mr. Burge discussed some changes with staff to new positions. The
information sheet is attached to One Note.
Zillah Coaches Association Collective Bargaining Agreement Information
Mr. Burge has asked the board to approve the Zillah Coaches Association
Collective Bargaining Agreement. The board has the contract to review.
ZSD/ZPD/ZFD - Mtg-Information
Mr. Burge discussed having the 2nd ZSD/ZPD/ZFD meeting of the year.
Thank Mr. Fender for attending the meeting. The district SRO is out on
sick leave and working with Chief Quantrell on the upcoming school year
SRO.
Employee Calendars-2022/2023-Information
Mr. Burge shared the district has put into practice scheduled days that
each employee will be working. The district will no longer have trade
time.
Out of State Travel-June 6, 2022-ZHS Senior Trip-Silverwood Theme
Park-Athol, ID
Mr. Burge is asking for approval for Out of State Travel for the ZHS class
of 2022 Senior Trip to Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, ID
Curriculum Adoption – Foreign Language Adoption
Mr. Irion discussed the committee made up of himself, Paula Dasso
(Administrator), Christine Champie (EL Instructor), Julie Funfar (CTE
Instructor), Elizabeth Jensen (Parent). The committee is looking through
policy, looking at the criteria for that curriculum must meet for curriculum
to be adopted.
Spring Panorama Results – Next Steps
Mr. Irion presented information stat sheet from the fall and spring
assessment from students surveys. SEL Data collection is a requirement
for the recovery plan that we were required to create for the learning loss
so the panorama will continue next year.
LAP HP – 2022/2023 School Year
Mr. Irion discussed LAP HP. Funds are provided to schools based on a
three year trend on poverty rate. We are able to hire more staff, more
professional development, help struggling students. These funds are
specific on how to use.

13.

14.

B.

II.

Comprehensive School Counseling Plan
Mr. Irion has posted to One Note the Plan. Mr. Irion shared we will have
an approval next month after the board has had time to review the
information.
Para Educator Articulation with YVCC
Mr. Irion is working with YVCC to support para educators to go to YVCC
to attend classes to become teachers.

Dates of Importance
1.
May 2, 2022-Make Up Snow Day #2
2.
May 12, 2022-ZSD Parent Meeting-6:00 p.m.
3.
May 23, 2022-Safety Committee Meeting-6:00 p.m.
4.
May 26, 2022-Board Work Session-6:00 p.m.-ZSD Safety Report/ZSD Athletic
Report-ZMS Commons
5.
May 26, 2022-Regular Board Meeting-7:00 p.m.-ZMS Commons
6.
May 30, 2022-Memorial Day-No School

ACTION AGENDA
A.
Personnel-(Approval)
1.
New Hires
a.
Niklaus Towne-7th & 8th Grade Science Teacher-SY 2022/2023-ZMS
b.
Michael McCullough-3rd Grade Teacher-SY 2022/2023-ZIS
c.
Yesenia Sanchez-Kindergarten Teacher-SY 2022/2023-HES
d.
Raul Solis-Assistant Baseball Coach-ZMS
e.
Kaylee Lawrence-Educational Staff Assistant (LAP)-2022 Spring
Semester-20 Hrs per week-ZHS
f.
Erica Mengarelli-Volleyball Head Coach-ZHS
g.
Sara Sainsbury-1st Grade Teacher-Begin 2022/2023-HES
h.
Victoria Harris-Highly Capable Program Advisor K-5-Begin 2022-2023
School Year
i.
Tonya Williams-Educational Staff Assistant-6 Hours-Begin 22/23 School
Year
j.
Christina Zapien-Educational Staff Assistant-6 Hours-Begin 22/23 School
Year
k.
Jasmine Stump-Educational Staff Assistant-6 Hours-Begin 22/23 School
Year
l.
Pam Bartz-Educational Staff Assistant-6 Hours-Begin 22/23 School Year
m.
Kayla Derrey-Educational Staff Assistant-6 Hours-Begin 22/23 School
Year
n.
Melanie Pudelkewicz-Educational Staff Assistant-6 Hours-Begin 22/23
School Year
o.
Tammy Lewis-Summer Extension Program Teacher-Summer 2022/14
Days (June14-July1)- 4 Hours Daily (3 Hours Instruction/1 Hour Prep) &
Optional Planning time-ZHS
2.
Resignation

a.
b.
c.

Michael McCullough-Kindergarten Teacher
Niklaus Towne-SPED Teacher
Erica Mengarelli-Volleyball Coach-ZMS

Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve personnel items
1., a-o. New Hires., 2., a-c. Resignation. All in favor motion carried.
B.

Policy Reviews-2nd Reading-(Approval/Adoption)
1.
Policy No. 2021-Library Information and Technology Programs
2.
Procedure No. 2021P-Library Information and Technology Programs
3.
Policy No. 2140-Comprehensive School Counseling Programs
4.
Procedure No. 2140P-Comprehensive School Counseling Programs
5.
Procedure No. 3211P-Gender-Inclusive Schools.
6.
Procedure No. 3416P-Medication at School
7.
Policy No. 4200-Parent Access and Safe and Orderly Learning Environment
8.
Policy No. 5410-Holidays
Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve and adopt
Policy Items 1-4 & 6-8., 2nd Reading. All in favor motion carried.
Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fener to table Item Number 5Procedure 3211P. All in favor motion carried.

C.

D.

E.

Resolution No. 460-Resolution of Redistricting Director Districts to Adjust to 2020
Census Data - (Approval)
Motion was made Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to table Resolution No. 460Resolution of Redistricting Director Districts to Adjust to 2020 Census Data. All in favor
motion carried.
Zillah Coaches Association Collective Bargaining Agreement – (Approval)
Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve the Zillah
Coaches Association Collective Bargaining Agreement. All in favor motion carried.
Out of State Travel-(Approval)
1.
June 6, 2022-ZHS Senior Trip-Silverwood Theme Park-Athol, ID
Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve Out of state
Travel for the ZHS Senior Trip to Silverwood in Athol, ID on June 6, 2022. All in favor
motion carried.

III.

BUDGET STATUS
Total ending cash, investments and adjustments at the end of March 31, 2022 was
$3,777,449.08. Motion was made by Darrin Belton, second by Thomas Fender to approve
Budget Status. All in favor motion carried.

IV.

PAYROLL AND VOUCHERS
Payroll-$1,253,935.99; ASB Acct.-$10,324.92; General Fund Acct. Payable$317,035.48.
Motion was made by Dennis Jones, second by Darrin Belton to approve Payroll and
Vouchers. All in favor motion carried.

Mr. Brady announced they would be going into executive session at 8:06 p.m. and would
be approximately 60 minutes.
V.

EXECUTIVE SESSION- Approximately 60 minutes-RCW 42.30.110 (g)
A.
Personnel

VI.

RECONVENE FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mr. Brady announced Board reconvene from executive session at 9:02

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m.
_______________________
Board Chairperson

ATTEST:
_______________________
Secretary