On March 10, the Kuna Board of Trustees and the Kuna City Council will hold a joint meeting to discuss growth. I welcome your feedback in advance to inform our conversation.

Did you know? The school district has no authority to approve or deny new residential developments. The district provides developers and city officials information on what the impact of proposed developments mean to our schools. We share this input through written information as well as in-person testimony at Planning and Zoning and City Council. We also ask developers to help mitigate the impact of new developments to our existing taxpayers by donating land for schools or funding for needs such as new school buses. These contributions are optional.

We've been working to change Idaho law to allow schools to collect impact fees.

The Board receives regular updates and each month in our regular session. This report is located in the Consent Agenda and is called the Community Development Tracker.

In most Idaho school districts, trustees represent a specific geographic area or zone. State law requires that the boundaries of these zones be reviewed and revised, if needed, to reflect changes in population.

This happens after the U.S. Census every ten years. Our community has grown a lot in the past 10 years and changes were made to help balance the zones. Those changes were approved by the State Board of Education last month. You may click on the map to review the zones.

If you've shifted into this zone from another, welcome to Zone 4! If you would like to continue to receive your former trustee's newsletter in addition to mine, you can sign up here.

As we update our email lists to reflect the new zones, errors may have occurred. If you think we have you connected to the wrong trustee, please contact ksdcommunications@kunaschools.org to let us know.

Thanks to Zone 4 patrons and others who participated in the Jan. 31 study circle. I appreciated the opportunity to listen to you. Here's a link to the notes from our study circle. Information about the next steps is under the "Superintendent's Report: Study Circles" in this newsletter.

High School Coordinator Brian Graves introduced Strength & Conditioning Coach Josh Bravo. Josh was named Coach of the Year for Region 5 of the The National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA). Region 5 includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. NHSSCA gives this regional award annually to a High School Strength and Conditioning Coach in recognition for his or her coaching achievements and passion for the profession.

Superintendent Wendy Johnson said this month the district would recognize our substitutes and our staff who filled in for absent colleagues during the peak in COVID cases in January.

Thanks so much to everyone who stepped forward to sub during this time. Because of the community's help and teachers who have sacrificed their time we have been able to stay open. THANKS!

(You are welcome to submit Kuna Way nominations using this link.)

Study Circles - Superintendent Johnson shared a report on the Jan. 31 Study Circles including themes identified from the notes and oral reports from each of the five groups facilitated by the trustees. She said the next step is for the feedback to be reviewed by the strategic planning group and for them to make revisions and additions and bring their updated plan forward to the Board to review in April or May. Feedback from participants about the process we used during the meeting was positive.

Community Engagement - Communication Director Allison Westfall reviewed the tentative schedule for engagement opportunities noting the Board will meet with city leaders in March and the fall likely will include a opportunity around the capital plan. Trustees discussed whether to hold a session in April. She shared that their second newsletter gained more views and she and Vice Chair Thomas discussed strategies to reach other patrons.

Trustees Thomas and I attended the National School Board Association Advocacy Institute Jan. 23-25 in Washington D.C. We shared some highlights from the opportunity including:

• Networking with trustees from across the U.S. School Districts. They found most districts are facing the same issues including the teacher shortage and access to all families to technology.

• The need to advocate with our Federal congressmen on fully funding special education.

• Boards need to be purposeful and intentional in their work.

• The board is on the right track engaging the community and needs to continue to be transparent about our district and schools, to listen and to engage patrons and parents.

• The speakers were very good including Dr. Adolph Brown III who shared the “3 E Rule,” for our expectations of high school graduates to be: enrolled, enlisted, or employed within three years of graduation.

• Appreciation for the advocacy of NSBA for the needs of public education.

As a follow up, Trustee Thomas said she would draft a letter to Idaho's Rep. Russ Fulcher, who serves on the education committee urging support for fully funding special education. The letter would also be sent to our two senators.

Vice Chair Thomas shared that future meetings may include a short lesson on Robert's Rules of Order, which is used by the Board in its meetings.

Trustees removed new policy 923 from the Consent Agenda for a needed revision and approved all other items which included:

• January 11, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes
• Accounts Payable
• School Financials
• Budget Status Report
• Trip Requests
• Community Development Tracker
• Early Graduation Requests
• Second Reading of: Revised policy 418 and Revised policy 444

Trusteed approved my appointment to serve on the Kuna Schools Foundation Board of Directors.

• Vice Chair Thomas shared that she is reaching to Jason Knopp, a Melba trustee and Idaho School Boards Association Board President, who is also a trainer for ISBA, to schedule a session on Board Basics.
• Superintendent Johnson shared that at the Board's request, a Joint Meeting between the Kuna School Board of Trustees and Kuna City Council to discuss growth, will be held 6 p.m. March 10 at Swan Falls High School.