Meeting Agreements

• Assume positive intent 
• Create space for multiple perspectives/input 
• Take responsibility for your impact 
• Stay open/flexible in our thinking (be open to new learning) 
• Value all ideas 
• In-person and virtual needs to be addressed in the group (keeping student interests in mind)- unity statement? Voice for all students 

Welcome & Introductions

• Introductions and what is a goal you have for BLT this year. 
  •  Attendees and shared what they were looking forward to at Cascade. 

Meeting Expectations 

• Keep screen on when we can 
• Continue to keep muted unless we are talking (helps with focus) 
• Actively participate 
• In a place where we can take the meeting 

Old Business 

• Where will minutes be placed? 
• Perhaps send once a month through the weekly newsletter. 
• Perhaps a link in the website – but would that be an issue for privacy. 
• put it on a social media app 
• should we have a newsletter for kids  
• we could put the minutes in the newsletter and a kid newsletter 
• who would be responsible for a student newsletter 
• how can we do this and have it be sustainable and provide the assessable to all 
  • Perhaps a subcommittee on how to share information?  

New Business 

• Owen invited everyone to scan where we are and share something in a Show & Tell. 
  • Members shared 

Action Items

Subcommittee Membership

• Once a month meeting with a smaller group.  
• Prepare something to share with the larger group 
• Committees shall be established by the Cascade BLT to accomplish a specific task. Committee participation shall be open to any member of Cascade. All potential members must complete the SPS Volunteer Screening paperwork. Communication from each committee to the Cascade BLT must be in the form of a written report with recommendations for actions. Committees include but are not limited to the following: Budget, CSIP, Professional Development, and Community Engagement. 
  • All BLT:  Please review the bylaws and jot down any suggestions for the team.   
  • The group will make any revisions and then put the bylaws to a vote 
  • We will be reviewing the bylaws at next month’s meeting and hope to approve at next BLT meeting. 
  • Please email Owen with what committee you would like to join. Email:  oigonder@seattleschools.org  

Budget 

• Monthly meetings to review and check for accuracy on school expenditures within the existing budget (ZFPlans), make recommendations for use of supply reserves to the BLT, consider and propose drafts of budget plans for future use. (BLT provides Input to Budget Plan, Staff has final Decision on Budget Plan). 

Community Engagement

• Monthly meetings to plan, prepare, and seek out resources to support the interests and needs of the school community. This sub-committee serves as an information-gathering body, helping better understand and engage the school community. Community engagement includes but is not limited to the following activities: School safety, schedule and school climate surveys, monthly Speaker’s Bureau, community fundraising and “Fun” raising activities, and parent education. (BLT has final DECISION on school climate, Principal has final Decision on Community Partners, Safety, Assemblies, and Schedule).

CSIP

• Monthly meetings to review, reconsider, and revise language used and goals proposed for the 3-year plan. During monthly meeting, the team should consider alignment of school goals to the district Strategic Plan, including 3rd grade reading, 7th grade math, and high school graduation. (Staff and community provide INPUT to CSIP, BLT has final DECISION on CSIP and Vision and Goals). 

Professional Development

• Monthly meetings to plan, prepare and seek out resources to support the professional learning of all school staff and parent educators. The sub-committee will be tasked with gathering staff and community feedback to further inform the creation and implementation of the school’s annual professional development plan. (Staff and community provide Input to PD, BLT has final Decision on PD). 

Live Tiered Supports

• Consider proposals 
• -live interventions for LAP (Learning Assistance Program) funds 
• -looking to hire a .5 Academic Intervention Specialist to work at VO 
• Which would take $75,000 
• -hire 4 hourly tutors to support students in reading & math $24,000 
• -purchase additional intervention materials (SIPSS) $2000 
• Older students tutoring younger students 
• Bake sale to raise funds 
• Use Tutor.com for free virtual tutoring 
• Currently AIS’s are over the caseload that Owen has set for VO  
• AIS could serve all students, not just LAP identified ones 
• AIS means Academic Intervention Specialist.  In the VO, this is a SPS teacher that monitors progress, is the point of contact for families, writes the monthly plans, etc.  The district says that it should be 1:60 (which is insane anyway) but our are OVER that, and their numbers are growing.  
• AIS caseloads currently: 
•  .4 AIS has 36 (12-6th graders & 19 -7th graders) 
• Kim has 72 
• Anne Louse has 66 
• One has 73 
• Staff is still enrolling folks now, so these numbers will grow 
• Hourly tutoring: who would manage and how could we make sure that there is equitable access for all students; where would tutors work? 
• Would these tutors work one on one?  Would it be a group thing?  
• We want tutors to use vetted curriculum for reading and math performance 
  • Motion for hiring a .5 AIS  
  • Motion Made by Kristin 
  • Seconded by Carly 
  • 10 in favor 
  • Motion passes 
  • Hold on hourly tutoring for next meeting 
  • Motion made to purchase SIPPS by Kristin 
  • With a maximum $2000 budget 
  • Ann seconded 
  • Motion to purchase SIPPS is passed with majority vote 

BLT Bylaws

• ALL BLT:  Please review these and have any revisions by next meeting 

CSIP Updates

• Owen was asked to submit the 2024 CSIP updates. 
• School website does not show a current CSIP.  A team is working on this at SPS district office.  This will soon be updated. 
  • All BLT:  Please review the 2024 CSIP for next meeting. Please bring any questions that you may have.  

Funding Proposals

• BLT put aside $25,0o0 for garden project. This would level the space. We learned that self help wouldn’t okay this as there is no idea what is what is under what they clear. 
• Next steps:  we could do raised beds now.  BLT needs to decide how we use this. 
• -gardening requires patience, and raised beds may not be the best decision.  
• We want to make sure it’s a safe space, level. A space that everyone can get into.  Accessibility issues. 
• SIPPS:  Who will be training the people on SIPPS? Can we provide adequate training and support for the folks using SIPPS? 

Next Meeting Date 

• From 4-5 
• This meeting is the fourth Friday of the month. Maybe we could meet twice a month for an hour rather than for two hours.  Third Monday of the month? 
• Owen shared a meeting poll with staff. 
• The plan is first and third Monday of the month at 4-5 
• Next meeting:  Monday, November 4  

Meeting Agreements 

• Assume positive intent 
• Create space for multiple perspectives/input 
• Take responsibility for your impact 
• Stay open/flexible in our thinking (be open to new learning) 
• Value all ideas 
• In-person and virtual needs to be addressed in the group (keeping student interests in mind)- unity statement? Voice for all students 

Welcome & Introductions 

• When in school as a child, what was the best part of your school experience? 
  • Attendees shared experiences 

Meeting Expectations 

• Keep screen on when we can 
• Continue to keep muted unless we are talking (help with focus) 
• Actively participate 
• In a place where we can take the meeting 

Old Business 

• Mission   
• Selections:  make understood the commitment of what BLT entails.   
• Non staff members:  have each of non-staff member write a statement of interest and anonymously post as candidate A, etc., and that is how community vote on what parents join.  How do we want to choose. 
• Parents should vote for parent representatives? 
• Are there enough interested parents who want to participate 
• It’s hard enough to get parents to be interested in the BLT 
• How are we seeking out diversity 
• Committees: make sure there is at least one staff member on each of the committees; committee reports two groups a meeting so each group reports once a month.  Budget committee responsibilities – be clear that this is going to require a more than monthly meeting. 
• BLT Subcommittee:  no change to the number of subcommittees. Add a statement that frequency of meetings is based on needs. 
• Decision making: decided to keep quorum as is.  Emergency meetings should be updated to posted in email and talking points.  Need to get agenda out a little earlier so concerned people in community could attend if they have a need. Agenda out a week in advance. 
• Where are we keeping minutes.  VO families don’t use Schoology as another access points as there are already a lot of other things that they are managing.  Perhaps agenda?  Carly shared that Ballard does post agenda and minutes on website. 
• Subcommittees:  Owen shared and asked members what subcommittee they wanted to join.   
• Budget: Lloyanne, Carly 
• CSIP: Kristin, Owen 
• Professional Development: Jeff, Zoe and Lisa 
• Community Engagement:  Megan, Ann and Vivian 
  • Perhaps a subcommittee on how to share information? 

Next Meeting Date 

• Minutes from October meeting were approved. 
  • Next meeting:  Monday, November 18 
  • From 4-5 

Update

• We just got 90K Carry Forward and have money set for garden

11-4-2024 Minutes 

• Make sure everyone is on subcommittee 
• Move to approve minutes 
  • Owen will check in with team to make sure that folks are added to a subcommittee list 
  • Moved by Owen, seconded by Carly, passes unanimously 
  • Link to weekly newsletter the BLT minutes 

Old Business 

• BLT Bylaws vote 
• Bylaws presented two weeks ago. Check in to see if there are any other bylaws issues 
  • Owen will update the document with the revised minutes and then take an email vote. Kristin’s email changes will also be reflected. If there is any change, please reply all to Owen. 
• BLT Sub-committee sign up 
  • Everyone in the meeting was already on a committee 
  • Budget: Lloyanne, Carly 
  • CSIP: Kristin, Owen 
  • Professional Development: Jeff, Zoe and Lisa 
  • Community Engagement: Megan, Ann and Vivian 
  • Missing:  Penny & Oliver 
• CSIP Updates 
• 7th grade math:  too small of a sample size 
• 3rd grade reading:  too small of a sample size 
• Speaks to work that is ongoing.  K8 counselors keep a close eye on students who are participating. 
• Virtual students often have trouble to access.  There is limited participation. 
• Staff:  how do staff feel about… 
• Culturally relevent — biggest discrepancy and largest drop. Students at 6-12 VO are getting canned curriculum; easier to work on hard issues without a team 
• Advisories PLC is working on having students write a testimonial  about courses.  
• Could parents play a rold in this? Could parents and staff organize for some study sessions to go through the material together – for the challenging? 
• Owen has been encouraging participation in community meetings, and K8 counselors are also speaking about this with families. We are trying to make sure that folks understand the assessments and celebrate the growth of our children over time rather than focusing on the negative. 
• Majority of increase for LAP funding has come from test participation. We are seeing an increase of LAP dollars in both programs.  
• Can we offer assessments virtually?  Will Hodges shares that we have to be on a district server to do this so it previously has not been allowed.   

New Business

• Funding Updates (Carry Forward) 
• $90,000 in Carry Forward – dollars that were not used in last year’s budget will carry forward to this year.  This allows us to address second semester  
• $60,000 dollars more is now available for second semester. $30,000 is needed for contractors for next semester (of the $90,000) 
  • Committee took five minutes to review. 
  • Possible actions: 
  • Bump up FTE for AIS 
  • $14,000 for a .1 FTE 
  • Hop, Skip & Drive Resource 
  • Help students get to school 
  • Cost is unclear —  
  • $5,000 for textual materials to update them 
  • Library fines: there is nothing to force library fines. It benefits all district fines to pay their fines. Many of our students owe money to pay their fines. We can’t use district money to pay those fines. 
  • What learning materials will help us help students engage in learning more – not a huge cost 
• Twice monthly meetings 
  • This is challenging; Owen will have a conversation with three families and check in. 

BLT Meeting

• December 2 (PD Plan Review) 

Check In

• What was your favorite food over the last four days?  Did you make it or did someone make it for you?
  • Attendees shared what was memorable.

Old Business

• Ann moved to approve minutes
• Kristin seconded to approve minutes
• Unanimous passing of minutes as written
• Kristin reached out to Hop Skip and Drive and confirmed that we had a contract. They wouldn’t share the contract with Kristin. Testing needs to be on site; perhaps we offer it in multiple regions to promote better testing.
  • Owen will ask for the contract.
  • Will bring up testing at later meeting
• Bylaws were sent late with Owen’s apology. We had an opportunity to meet and discuss in smaller teams the Bylaws.  All conversations have been incorporated in the minutes. 
• Owen walked members through areas that there were questions.
• Adding specificity of what is the role.
• How do the students (Zoe has been the one consistently attending) report work to constituency?
• Perhaps this could be done in advisory.  We have three students representing.
• Committee – if you are meeting as a subcommittee, are you writing up notes to share with BLT to recommend actions; or are we choosing to have reports. We don’t want to add specifics in bylaws.  Subcommittees and BLT meetings are monthly
• Keep the notes in Teams Group
• Report 3 working days in advance.
• Notice, agenda, meeting minutes has to be out within a week.
• Secret voting is prohibited – RCW bit we aren’t publishing the votes
  • Owen is looking for a decision about how to represent the VO. 
  • Opportunities could be created for Zoe to share information.  Will be discussed later.
  • Adding the meeting link to the newsletter
  • Action:  Team members have until Friday to vote to approve the Bylaws as written.
  • Owen will send out a form for this. Advertise the representatives and their contact information in the newsletter. 
• Expectation to meet monthly.
  • Action:  subcommittees please meet and write notes to add to the Team Group (Staff can support this)

New Business

• .5 AIS position that we chose to buy up with LAP
• We have 60K for second semester
• new contractors
• buying up .5 AIS
• new AIS .5 is Betsy H, do we want to buy up this position? (14K per .1)
• Ann moves to make the position a .7
• Zoe seconds the motion Vote:  unanimous approval for an addition .2
• Additional 30K  — what do we want to do with this money 6-12 promote the elective classes although in person folks know that this counts as a course
  • Action:  please ask your constituents

Cascade Professional Development Plan review

• Professional development calendar
• calendar shows what has happened to date; what plans do we want to do with early day Wednesdays.
• district UDL (universal design for learning) what are we doing for planning and prep.  What does th
  • Please review

Next Meeting Date

• December 16  4-5
  • Please respond to Owen’s meeting poll as this meeting might change.

Check In

• Who influences you to keep going when you want to give up?
  • Attendees shared who influenced them.

Meeting Objective

• Looking at professional development plan

Old Business:  Approving Minutes 

• Ann moved to approve minutes 
• Kristin seconded to approve minutes with an edit on whom Kristin reached out to (SPS)
  •  Unanimous passing of minutes as written 
  • Owen shared where the BLT information is stored in TEAMS in the BLT group
  • Community at large can look at these through a link on the website & on the newsletter

BLT Bylaws

• They have been approved
  • Members voted by email

Hiring updates

• For the first time in SPS history, Cascade has a plan for some students to get 1-1 support.  We have 3 students in the in-person program who have those needs, and we haven’t been able to offer
  • New hire starts on Monday! Bianca Y.
  • Current numbers: 163 students in K-8 251 students in K-12 VO

Subcommittee reports

• Community engagement: Meet monthly on Friday at noon.  Minutes are kept in Teams.  We are trying to determine an author event and brainstorming.  Megan has been researching authors who will are available.
  • Minutes for Community engagement are on Teams. Meeting is the first Friday of the month.
• CSIP (Continuous School Improvement Plan): Kristin & Owen met to talk about CSIP.  Acknowledging that in the notes we are talking about things this year based on a three-year plan.  We are not really adjusting the goals at this time. We are revisiting goals and how we are doing we these goals has been part of this week. Data is in TEAMS. Also look at the map that shows where our students are from.
  • Looked at the gender balance and population and geographic information. This information is posted in the hallway in the building.
• Budget:  looking spending remaining dollars for this year. 

New Business:  Professional Development Calendar 

• EOG (Eliminating the Opportunity Gap).  There has been a push for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – how is learning meaningful for me and what are multiple ways to show what we have learned. 
• Also looking at MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) – how do we support our learners?
• Collaborations between gen ed and sped staff? 
• Educating community about the MTSS process and how early intervention supports are helpful
• UDL walk through tool?
• Can we create some type of guide of what Cascade is to share with community and new hires
• Having a VO student join the team: how can we invite a student to join the team.
• PD:  how can we get great PD without adding the load on our staff.  Outside folks would be welcome and appreciated.
• Bringing the parents along
• Central office has a PD Hub with potential guest speakers
• Reviewed PD goals/discussions from previous BLT (shared with us by Owen)
• Handbook subcommittee?
• Virtual handbook
  • Need a professional plan by the end of the year.  We will be revisiting this.
  • Our next big team focus will be budget.

New Business: Decision-Making Matrix

• How are decisions made with who makes the decision and who has input. This is the current 24-25 matrix
  • ACTION:  please review and offer any changes that we want to see.  Changes would need to be voted on by staff.
  • Could we have more roles on the chart than what we have now?
  • It ultimately is the admin responsibility to hold the staff accountable to the CSIP goals. That responsibility shouldn’t live with other staff members, that’s why we have an administrator.

Unfilled Substitute Coverage

• When staff are out of the building, we hire a sub. If no one is available, then we ask staff to cover for this. So we compensate the staff who have to do the work of covering. Sub reimbursement helps hold the district accountable to having a robust sub pool. 
• We ask the team first to see who can cover. We need a flowchart.
• SPED IA:
  • Look for coverage in the sped team
  • If no coverage, then ask available certificated staff to cover
  • Then ask Principal Owen (Owen is not compensated for subbing.)
  • Cancel classes
  • We could possibly combine classes for coverage
• Missing Certificated Teacher:
  • If no coverage, then ask available certificated staff to cover
  • Then ask Principal Owen
  • We could possibly combine classes for coverage
  • Cancel classes
• Principal Designee:
  • Who can be an administrative designee?

Next Meeting

• February 6, 3-5 PM on TEAMS

Check In

• What’s one thing that you’ve been able to do since you’ve been remote that you’ve appreciated.
  • Team all shared

Meeting Agreements

• Assume positive intent
• Create space for multiple perspectives/input
• Take responsibility for your impact
• Stay open/flexible in our thinking (be open to new learning)
• Value all ideas
• In-person and virtual needs to be addressed in the group (keeping student interests in mind)- unity statement? Voice for all students

Meeting Objective

• Decision Making review
• Sub-committee check-in
• Professional Development 2526 brainstorming
• Budget Priorities

Old Business: Approving Minutes 

• BLT Meeting Minutes January 9th 2025
  • Moved by Ann
  • Seconded by Kristan
  • Voted and approved unanimously

Subcommittee Reports

• Community engagement: met last week.  Megan has written to an author to see if she can speak virtually.  Local author: Sundee T. Frazier
  • Want online students to interact with in person people.
• CSIP (Continuous School Improvement Plan):  reviewed existing plan and examined that some parts of the CSIP had not taken place.  Reflecting and revised to address what did happen.  Address standardized test data, twice monthly community conversations.
  • How do we get families and students to participate?  Prizes for survey completion?  Are surveys measuring what we want measured?  Kristin proposed laptops and teaching the survey to students so they can understand the questions. 
• Budget:   We could have LAP tutors.  Do we think students would access this?  Would it be beneficial. How else could we better use this money at VO?  Have a mentor with a different specialty host a drop in for support?  What if staff hosted homework sessions? Perhaps increasing case management for other students so that staff could offer more support sessions?
  • Could we intertwine so we are more like one school?
  • Could we get an informal audit from OSPI to see what is required by AIS
  • Owen will reach out to Bellevue to see how the Bellevue PPP and their digital program are starting the virtual school.
  • Stage – ADA accessibility.  A lift or a ramp since a ramp has to be 16 feet.  We are working with a 20K budget so we are waiting to see what happens as we know there is a need for this.
  • 32K in supply reserve
  • 29K for live intervention (tutors)
  • MLL teacher are now going to be AIS case management. 
• Professional Development:  not met yet.  Zoe, Melinda, Jeff, Lisa

Decision Making Matrix Revision

• Looking at schedule.  Schedule input doesn’t include parents.  Updated version of Decision Making Matrix. 
• Do we have different questions that should be included in survey?
  • Propose to approve the decision making matrix:  Ann
  • Proposal seconded:  Kristin
  • Matrix approved

New Business:  Cascade Professional Development Plan 25-26

• Wonders about:
  • Not isolated but something that carries throughout the year (example:  Universal Design for Learning)
  • Staff & other parents trained in Ross Green methods
  • The Age of Overwhelm – The Trauma Stewardship Institute
  • Website: Lives in the Balance
  • How do we support students who are struggling:  Teen Link does presentation
    • PD subcommittee should review these and come up with some proposals.

Budget Timeline

• March 6, 3-5 PM on TEAMS
  • Budget meeting
• What to expect/timeline: 
  • February 10:  Gold Book will be sent out.  This book gives the information pertaining to budget. It is the cost of positions. 
• Enrollment Projects:
  • 166 Cascade K8
  • 335 Cascade VO
• Allocations sheet is in the Purple Book:  budget allocations for directed funds.  Purple Book comes at the end of February.
• Budget team creates a PowerPoint with breakdown

Next Meeting Date

• February 27, 3-5 on TEAMS

Check In

• When you think back about your own school experience, when did you feel well supported and cared for? What was it that made you feel that way?
  • Members shared

Welcome

• Welcome & Introductions

Meeting Agreements

• Assume positive intent
• Create space for multiple perspectives/input
• Take responsibility for your impact
• Stay open/flexible in our thinking (be open to new learning)
• Value all ideas
• In-person and virtual needs to be addressed in the group (keeping student interests in mind)- unity statement? Voice for all students

Meeting Objective

• Meeting Goals
  • Create 2025/2026 budget plans

New Business

• Budget Allocations Review
• Budget priorities
• Draft Budget plan
• Changes
  • Lost .6 in teaching
  • Gained 137,000 in Title I instruction
    • Can we buy up the lost position with Title?
    • Why are we having to use Title? It would be nice to use this money in a different way
  • Funding for a social worker
  • Funding for high school counselor
  • LAP money isn’t funded
  • Can equity dollars be used to fund teachers?  Yes.  We gained 31,000 in this.
  • Why do we only get $600 for translation and interpretation?
  • Gained $30,000 in per student discretionary
  • Higher percentage that qualifies for equity dollars
  • We lost 1.3 in counseling
  • How does the district feel that we should be staffing? Should we be staffed at an average of our enrollment? Or should we have more staff?
    • Staffing is adjusted four times a year for SPED. For general education, this is adjusted on October 10 count
    • SPS and WA state is understaff at beginning of the year even when there is an expectation of increased enrollment; and put teachers into overage and theoretically, you will be able to increase staffing
    • Most states staff heavy upfront
  • No change in SPED allocation for the first time!
  • Nursing:  .1 is impossible to fill a position. Typical HS get a 1.0 nurse – why are we funded at .1?
    • What happens if we can’t get a nurse?
• accounting of each of the positions and what our action plan recommendation
• What are our mitigation requests?
  • HS counselor – highest priority
  • .4 nurse
  • How do we get these items permanently fixed? Is there an additional process to get this fixed – CONTRACT BARGAINING begins in May
    • We need to bargain for ALE positions; presentation about contract to families
    • Mitigation decisions are given quickly – mitigation tonight
    • Owen also has a meeting with Pat Guidelines for schools
    • Relocate program or have multiple admin
• We won’t need to do a waiver for this
• .2 LAP was used to buy up a staff position at K8
• We used .7 LAP dollars to purchase .7 AIS
• Where do we field the .3 cert?  Title 1 isn’t supposed to replace things that get are already being provided
• 9.3 AIS and classroom teachers currently – 3.6 (K8) and 5.7 (VO)
  • How do we use our LAP dollars since we are only allocated 7.8 (8.2 if we use LAP dollars)
• Mitigation requests go to a team – Director McCarthy
• Due by March 10 and give response by March 17
• March 19 budget arena at 1:30

• Mitigation Requests in priority order
  • 1.0 HS counselor
  • .3 nurse
  • 1.0 Social Worker
  • .5 AP position
  • .3 MS counselor
  • AAFTE questions – how are we losing teacher
• Priorities if we don’t get mitigation
  • 1.0 HS counselor
  • 1.0 social worker
  • .3 Nurse
  • .5 Assistant Principal/Head Teacher
  • .3 counselor
  • Additional .3 AIS for VO (so 6.0 AIS for VO)
• Community Action
  • Jeff and Owen create talking points to share with community so they can write district mitigation team

Next Meeting Date

• March 6, 3-5 PM on TEAMS
  • Look at budget allocation worksheet before next meeting

Check In

• How do you define success? Are success and happiness the same?
  • Team shared their thoughts in chat & in person

Meeting Agreements 

• Assume positive intent 
• Create space for multiple perspectives/input 
• Take responsibility for your impact 
• Stay open/flexible in our thinking (be open to new learning) 
• Value all ideas 
• In-person and virtual needs to be addressed in the group (keeping student interests in mind)- unity statement? Voice for all students 

Meeting Objective 

• Meeting Goals:  start conversation about budget allocation.  The plan was to review a proposal from budget subcommittee, but Owen decided that this team would create a proposal and didn’t have the budget team create one.

Guests

• Owen invited VO staff to attend as observers and also met with them prior to this meeting to determine their budget priorities since Carly and Vivian were out on leave and missed last week’s meeting.  He also had Carly prepare a PPT with numbers to understand the budget.

Budget

• PowerPoint created by Carly to help make sense of the budget. 
  • Owen walked the team through the ppt
  • There was some confusion about the PPT and wonder about the numbers included and not included. 
• CPP continues to take students throughout semester: VO stops taking students March 8^th.
• Budget priorities and mitigation requests have shifted between last week’s meeting and this week. The plan to develop a budget on the fly was unsuccessful.
  • Lots of discussion that was different from last week’s budget discussion
  • Owen will submit budget mitigation ASAP
• No mitigation requests have been sent as of this meeting.  District has very little mitigation money.
• Issues: we didn’t get a budget to fully fund the program.  Please refer to February 27 minutes as this information is the same. 
• We lost .6 in teaching, and VO is proposing an additional .3 for AIS, so that leaves us .9 down in teaching

Budget Allocation

• With 2 minutes left to the meeting, Ann proposed that we send the budget back to the budget subcommittee so they can send a proposal to the BLT
  • Approved and meeting adjourned.

Subcommittee Reports

• Please see Teams folder for minutes of subcommittee. You will want to look at Budget to see their proposals for 2025-2026 budget.
  • Please review Budget subcommittee reports prior to vote. Budget subcommittee meets 3/10 at 1 pm

Next Meeting Date 

• March 7 from 3-5 on TEAMS unless Owen calls for another budget meeting
  • PLAN:  We need a budget proposal that makes all three learning models viable.

The Building Leadership Team (BLT) of the Seattle Public Schools’ Cascade Parent Partnership (Cascade) is a representative group of parents, staff and community members working in partnership to embrace students’ individual learning journeys. This representative group reflects the three distinctive school components; K8 in-person Partnership working with parent educators, K5 Virtual Option with live SPS teachers and Grades 6-12 Virtual Option working asynchronously with a non-SPS online learning provider.

The purpose of the Cascade BLT shall be to:

1. Act as a catalyst for continued growth and change by fostering a positive learning climate to encourage the academic, social and emotional growth of all participants.  This will be accomplished through a policy of shared participation of staff, family and community members.
2. Review, discuss, recommend and evaluate annually a Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP) for Cascade and its mid-year progress toward the stated goals.
3. Provide input in the selection of materials, budgetary planning, programming, staffing, school safety, and other matters appropriate to Cascade educational endeavors.
4. Act responsibly in every action, upholding the right of all people, holding all meetings as required by the Open Meeting law, RCW 42.30, and by conforming to the Seattle School Board Policy and all contracts in force with the Seattle School District.

In the spirit of mutual cooperation and respect for all members of the Cascade community, we the Cascade BLT, will welcome and encourage participation of students, staff personnel, families, and community members who reflect the diversity of the families who we serve, including, but not limited to, a cross section of ages, gender, identity and orientation, including LGBTQIA+, ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds, disability, family structures, preferred language, economic experiences and educational philosophies.

The Cascade BLT shall be comprised of a least seven (7) and no more than thirteen (13) members, which could include the following constituencies:

1. Representation of staff and faculty – at least two (2), one certificated and one classified, and no more than five (5), *Strong recommendation towards having representatives from the K8 in-person, K5 VO and 6-12 VO
2. Representation of students- at least one (1) student and no more than three (3), within the 7^th through 12^th grade bands
3. Representation from families and community– at least (3) and no more than four (4), of which one may be a community member at large *Strong recommendation towards having representatives from the K8 in-person and K-12 VO
4. The Principal – one (1) member.

BLT members from the school staff are paid a stipend, so these are staff-elected positions. Staff nominate candidates and a ballot vote is taken, where no more than five staff are elected to positions.

Student, family and community members listed above shall be entitled to use a lottery process to select their representative.  An additional member may be appointed by the Cascade BLT, as needed.

The following process will be used to recruit, screen and select BLT members:

1. Notice to all families is provided with two weeks notice prior to selections
2. Each interested person considering a BLT appointment must complete a “Statement of Interest” Form
3. The principal will meet individually with each candidate, answering candidate questions and providing an overview of the BLT’s purpose and work
4. If needed, a public lottery will be conducted to select student, family and community BLT members

The members of the Cascade BLT shall hold office for a one (1) year term with the possibility of being re-selected, from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

Members of the Building Leadership Team are required to attend at least monthly meetings and serve on at least one BLT subcommittee, which meets at least monthly. Attendance and participation in these meetings are vital to the success of the school leadership team.

Team members report to their constituency on at least a monthly basis, providing information through live meetings (remote or in-person), email or another form of written notification. Gathering with their constituency, team members are expected to gain insight from others and speak on their behalf to the Building Leadership Team. Throughout the year of service, BLT members will need to connect with their constituents, asking questions, gaining insight and then representing them in BLT discussions and voting.

Members who miss three (3) consecutive meetings or more than four (4) meetings in the school year, may be contacted by the facilitator to determine their intent or ability for continued participation, which may result in the termination of the member, by BLT vote.

Committees shall be established by the Cascade BLT to accomplish a specific task.  Committee participation shall be open to any member of Cascade.  All potential members must complete the SPS Volunteer Screening paperwork.  Communication from each committee to the Cascade BLT must be in the form of a written report with recommendations for actions within three days of the subcommittee meeting and shared by email. At least one staff member will serve on each subcommittee. Subcommittees report monthly. Therefore, each subcommittee is required to meet at least monthly, outside of existing BLT meetings. The frequency of subcommittee meetings is based on needs and is subject to change. Committees include but are not limited to the following: Budget, CSIP, Professional Development, and Community Engagement.

The responsibilities of each sub-committee include but are not limited to the following:

• Budget- Monthly meetings to review and check for accuracy on school expenditures within the existing budget (ZFPlans), make recommendations for use of supply reserves to the BLT, consider and propose drafts of budget plans for future use. (BLT provides INPUT to Budget Plan, Staff has final Decision on Budget Plan).
• CSIP- Monthly meetings to review, reconsider, and revise language used and goals proposed for the 3-year plan.  During monthly meeting, the team should consider alignment of school goals to the district Strategic Plan, including 3^rd grade reading, 7^th grade math, and high school graduation. (Staff and community provide INPUT to CSIP, BLT has final Decision on CSIP and Vision and Goals).
• Professional Development (PD)- Monthly meetings to plan, prepare and seek out resources to support the professional learning of all school staff and parent educators. The sub-committee will be tasked with gathering staff and community feedback to further inform the creation and implementation of the school’s annual professional development plan. (Staff and community provide INPUT to PD, BLT has final Decision on PD).
• Community Engagement- Monthly meetings to plan, prepare, and seek out resources to support the interests and needs of the school community. This sub-committee serves as an information-gathering body, helping better understand and engage the school community. Community engagement includes but is not limited to the following activities: School safety, schedule and school climate surveys, monthly Speaker’s Bureau, community fundraising and “Fun” raising activities, and parent education. (BLT has final DECISION on school climate, Principal has final Decision on Community Partners, Safety, Assemblies, and Schedule).

The Cascade BLT representatives are expected to represent the ideas, concerns, and problems of the students, parents, teachers, community, and administration of Cascade Parent Partnership, with special effort to highlight underrepresented voices.  The representatives are expected to state their views on topics under discussion and to reach decisions by a majority vote.

Meetings shall be held at least once a month during the regular school year on a day, time and place to be determined by the Cascade BLT.  Meetings during the summer months will be held as needed and determined by the Cascade BLT facilitator.  Notice of such meetings shall be communicated to all BLT members at least one week prior to the called meeting. This notification to BLT members should include the upcoming meeting agenda and previous meeting minutes.  In addition, any other supporting documents to be discussed should be included for the team’s preview before the actual meeting. The regular schedule of meetings shall be in compliance with the Open Meetings Act, RCW42.30. 

A schedule of meetings shall be printed and posted on the BLT bulletin board, shared by email through the weekly school newsletter and Cascade webpage.  Emergency meetings may be called with twenty-four (24) hours notice, shared with community by email and Talking Points, and communicated to all elected BLT members.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of the membership, including representation from in-person and virtual components, shall constitute a quorum.  In order to conduct any business resulting in a proposal that requires a majority vote, a quorum must be present.

Meetings shall be facilitated by either the Principal, a member designated by the Principal, or by a member elected by the BLT, if this is desired by a majority of the BLT.

An agenda shall be prepared by the facilitator.  A place shall be reserved on every agenda to allow any member of the Cascade BLT or Cascade community to address the BLT.

A member of the Cascade BLT will serve as the Recorder providing a copy of the minutes to each member for approval or corrections at the next meeting of the Cascade BLT.  A copy of the minutes will be maintained in a SharePoint notebook, under Curriculum and Operations, entitled BLT, posted on the community board on campus and shared on the school website.  It will be open to review by everyone in the Cascade community. Community members seeking additional means of accessing the meeting minutes should contact the front office at 206-743-3900.

Proposed amendments to these bylaws may be presented to the Cascade BLT in writing at a regularly scheduled meeting.  Adoption of an amendment requires quorum approval.  The proposed amendment will be posted for general review and comment at least two (2) weeks prior to the meeting at which the vote will be taken.

The Cascade BLT will recognize and observe all laws, regulations, district policies, collective bargaining agreements and other agreements.