Monitoring Report - Operational Expectations (OE) Policies

Policy: OE-03

Title: Relationship with the Community Interpretation and Monitoring Indicators

Status: Active

Adopted: February 28, 2023

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To: School Board, Ferndale School District (WA) 

 From: Dr. Kristi Dominguez, Superintendent

Date: February 28, 2023

Subject: 2022 Phase Two Monitoring Report

Operational Expectations Policy 3 (OE-3): Relationship with and Engagement of Community Stakeholders 

 

Superintendent’s Introduction

We are pleased to submit this Monitoring Report (Operational Expectations Policy 3 (OE-3)) for Relationship with and Engagement of Community Stakeholders to the school district’s Board of Directors. This report focuses on communicating openly and effectively with the community groups – families, staff, students, business leaders, tribal groups, and so on – that support our schools and provide feedback. We believe good communication is critical to the success of any organization, particularly in public schools. Families, our employees and local taxpayers deserve to know what decisions we are making, and why we are making them. Those people also deserve to have avenues to submit comments and complaints.

 

This report also covers handling our students’ confidential information, addressing community complaints, celebrating our diversity, and reaching our community members who speak and read a language other than English.

 

Policy

The Superintendent will maintain an organizational culture that engages and serves parents and citizens with respect, dignity, and courtesy.

 

Interpretation

This policy sets expectations for how we will interact with and serve our external stakeholders.

 

One term that will be used frequently throughout this policy is “stakeholders.” For clarification’s sake, here is the definition of that term, as used in the previous OE-3 monitoring report from 2021:

 

Stakeholders refer to the owners of the District who have a vested interest in seeing that the District delivers on its intended results and maintains the viability of its services and outcomes over time. Although stakeholders include those who work within the system on a daily basis, like teachers and support staff (also known as internal stakeholders), we understand that this policy is particularly aimed at external stakeholders who exist outside the day-to-day work of the District. External stakeholders have a definite stake in the District’s outcomes, but they do not directly determine what goes into producing those outcomes. External stakeholders include the families who send their children to our schools, the taxpayers who support our schools, and the businesses who hire our graduates. External stakeholders also include care providers, first responders, government agencies, colleges and universities, civic groups, collaborative partners, faith-based organizations, and voters.

 

Monitoring Indicator(s) are provided below for each part of OE-3.

 

The Superintendent will:

 

1. Protect confidential information.

 

Interpretation

We understand this indicator requires us to ensure all District-held information about individual students, staff and/or families will be retained securely, and that staff members will not share that information informally.

 

Monitoring Indicator(s)

We know we are compliant when:

1.1 We can show clear procedures for handling confidential information, evidence that staff have been trained in following these procedures, and that there have been no breaches in confidentiality practices as outlined in any District policy, state law, and/or federal regulation.

 

Our district has many rules and procedures that keep confidential information secure. Anyone hired by the District signs a confidentiality agreement, outlining which information is not appropriate for sharing with the public. District staff involved in a new employee interview process also sign a confidentiality agreement, forbidding them from sharing any notes, rankings, or deliberations from the interview process with the public.

 

Students’ individual information is also firmly protected. Online access to students’ Individual Education Plans (IEPs) is only available to case managers and certain staff members, as needed. When someone receives information from a public records request, all identifying student information – from names on an email to faces in a security video – are redacted. When we collaborate with an outside vendor for assessment, we have them sign a data-sharing agreement. This ensures that our student data is protected. Also, in staff members’ offices, all filing cabinets containing paper copies of confidential information are securely locked.

 

Finally, our Vector Alert system allows anyone – staff, student or community member – to anonymously report a concern regarding our schools. Vector Alert protects the identity of the person who submits the tip. Here is our Vector Alert website: https://ferndale-wa.safeschoolsalert.com/

 

In the past two years, the District has had two situations where staff’s confidentiality practices were called into question. Both allegations were investigated. In the first case, the investigation found no wrongdoing. In the second, we found that confidentiality had been violated, so the employee was sent a letter reminding them to maintain confidentiality.

 

2. Effectively handle complaints.

 

Interpretation

We understand this indicator requires us to collect and address feedback from our stakeholders. The Board expects us to establish multiple avenues for stakeholders to share their complaints with us and to handle these complaints in a manner that is respectful, timely, as transparent as possible, and clearly documented.

 

It is important to note that effectively handling a complaint does not mean that the District will always implement the remedy advocated by the complainant, or that every complainant will be satisfied with the District’s final decision.

 

Monitoring Indicator(s)

We know we are compliant when:

 

2.1 We can show evidence that a process for registering complaints is readily accessible to stakeholders.

 

There are multiple avenues in which stakeholders can submit complaints to the district:

 

• “The Listening Post,” where anyone can submit a complaint, comment, or compliment online. These are read by our Communications Specialist and passed along to the appropriate administrator.
• There is a near-identical online form where people can submit public comments to the School Board. People can also use this form to reserve their spot in line for public comment at the next Board meeting.
• Parents, guardians, students, business owners, and residents of the Ferndale School District or school staff can address the School Board face-to-face at every regular Board meeting for up to three minutes.
• As mentioned in Indicator 1.1, Vector Alerts allow anyone to submit anonymous reports of bullying or threats.
• People can reach out, either via email, phone call, or an in-person visit, to their local school’s administrator. Any community member can also contact Kris Newberry, Assistant to the Superintendent, to schedule a one-on-one meeting with the Superintendent.
• Anyone can comment on our district’s social media posts with a question. Our Communications team will respond with a follow-up comment answering the question, when appropriate.

 

Administrative Policy 4220 addresses external stakeholders’ methods for registering  complaints, and Policy 5270 is a companion policy for internal stakeholders.

 

We always advise stakeholders to first issue their complaint to the person closest to their concern. For example, if a parent is upset about teaching style, we would direct them to speak to that teacher. If the stakeholder is not satisfied with the response to their complaint, the school’s administrative assistant will schedule a time for that stakeholder to meet with the school’s administrator. Regarding the school District’s organizational chart, data from the Superintendent’s entry plan has shown that there is work to be done regarding clarity in district administrator’s roles and responsibilities. This spring the Executive Team is working to identify bodies of work and plans to make recommendations that will support the reorganization of the District’s central office support team. For now, if a parent or guardian needed support, they could contact the district office, and a member of the Executive Team will work to support them.

 

2.2 Zero reports have been made to the School Board that District officials have failed to respond to legitimate questions or concerns from stakeholders, when those questions or concerns have been communicated through an appropriate venue. (This does not include when stakeholders do not agree with or like the response they received.)

 

The District has processes in place if a stakeholder issues a report or complaint to the Board or Superintendent that their concerns were not properly heard. These processes depend on the severity of the issue – the Superintendent or a Board member may meet one-on-one with the individual who filed the report, or we may hire outside investigators, Clear Risk Solutions, to investigate it. Anyone can reach out to a Board member via their email posted on the district website, or to the Superintendent. They can also contact the Superintendent’s assistant. At a recent Board meeting, our attorney Sam Chalfant answered Board questions about the process of accepting complaints.

 

 

3. Maintain an organizational culture that values individual differences of opinion; reasonably includes people in decisions that affect them; focuses on common achievement of the Board’s Results policies; and is open, responsive, and welcoming.

 

Interpretation

We understand this indicator, at a broad level, revolves around belonging. Our district’s theme for the 2022-23 school year has been “You Belong”, which can apply to each portion of this indicator. Both internal and external stakeholders feel like they belong when their opinions are valued, when our community’s diversity is embraced and celebrated, when they can participate in decisions that impact them, when they are aware and engaged in our academic goals, and when our schools foster a welcoming atmosphere.

 

Monitoring Indicator(s)

We know we are compliant when:

 

3.1 We maintain an organizational culture that values individual differences of opinion.

 

We believe an organization is stronger when people with multiple backgrounds, opinions and mindsets can effectively work together within it. As noted in the fourth Strategic Commitment (which can be found on our website): “Our public schools belong to our entire community and our diversity makes us stronger.”  Most recently as part of the Superintendent’s rebranding campaign, our motto of “You Belong,” and “One Team, One Town” is evidence of this belief in action.
 

The District’s Civility Policy (5009) is also posted on the front doors of our schools and the Administrative Building. As the policy states, “the school setting should promote the kind of civil discourse and free exchange of ideas that are central both to high quality education and to preparation for thoughtful participation in our democratic society.”

 

3.2 We maintain an organizational culture that values diversity.

 

To value many different opinions, we must also embrace the diversity of the greater Ferndale community. Our communications team has made a concerted effort to highlight various monthly celebrations, such as National Hispanic Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Month.

 

This typically goes beyond simply posting a graphic. For example, during Native American Heritage Month this past November, our communications team shared photos from Ferndale High School’s daily Morning Gathering, where about 25-40 students and staff sing and dance to Native American music played by our own students. In the past few months, we have also shared photos from the Family Resource Center’s traditional Hispanic/Latinx holiday celebration and Eagleridge Elementary’s student-led Treaty Day assembly.

 

This fall, we hired three bilingual administrative assistants to better serve our Spanish-speaking families. Additionally, we opened the Ferndale Resource Center, and our four coordinators there are bilingual and/or bicultural, serving our families who are Spanish- or Russian-speaking, or are members of the Lummi Nation.

 

Our district has also worked closely with the Lummi Nation to observe Treaty Day. Beginning in 2020, our staff has taught our students about the significance of the Point Elliot Treaty and its impacts on our region. There are also multiple leadership clubs at Ferndale High School that honor and embrace our student body’s diversity: Oksale club, geared towards students from the Lummi Nation, and MEChA Club, geared towards our Latino/Hispanic students.

 

There are many District families and community members who speak a language other than English. We take great efforts to communicate with these stakeholders in their own languages. Any message sent through ParentSquare – which can include crucial information about school closures, emergencies and more – is automatically translated into the seven different languages spoken by our families. Our website can also be translated into the four most common non-English languages in our region: Spanish, Russian, Punjabi and Ukrainian. Our Facebook and Instagram posts are posted in both English and Spanish.

 

Of course, it is difficult to embrace diversity without having a workforce that reflects our student body. Our human resources department has taken efforts to attract hires from many backgrounds, such as using ParentSquare to translate messages about hiring fairs into Spanish and Russian. We have also started hosting monthly job fairs, to make it easier for people from marginalized groups to apply for – and hopefully be hired for – positions in the district. There are translators available at the job fairs if needed, along with assistance for those who do not know how to use a computer.

 

However, we still have some work to do on this goal. According to the state, 92.3% of our teachers were white in the 2020-21 school year, compared to 56.2% of our students that year. The largest gap is with our Latino/Hispanic students, who made up 22% of the student population but only 1.4% of our teaching staff in 2020-21. (OSPI does not have staff demographic data available on its Report Card website more recent than 2020-21.)

 

3.3 We maintain an organizational culture that reasonably includes people in decisions that affect them.

 

Our District leadership has made a painstaking effort to seek input and feedback from stakeholders in many major decisions. One great example is my Superintendent Entry Plan, which can be found at www.ferndalesd.org/youbelong. This past fall, I visited every school buildings and department, gathering information and opinions from hundreds of school staff and students. I also spoke with our labor leaders, who play an integral role in the direction of our district; as well as conducted focus groups and one-on-ones with local philanthropic and business figures, Tribal elders and leaders, representatives from our Latino community, local government officials, and more. Finally, I meet monthly with FHS students in the Superintendent/Student Advisory Group, where they share their perspective on their school.

 

Before I made any major changes to the operations of the District, I wanted to seek input from the many stakeholder groups that make up our schools and our community, so I could hear their concerns and priorities.

 

We also created an Early Learning Task Force in January, with the goal of aligning our early learning programs with inclusive and best practices and creating a 3–5-year plan for the programs. This task force, which meets bi-monthly, is made up of people who have a stake in local early learning: early elementary teachers, parents, and administrators like Early Learning Program Principal Ashley Hill and Early Learning Coordinator Rachel Bowlden.

 

3.4 We maintain an organizational culture that focuses on common achievement of the Board’s Results policies.

 

This indicator requires us to educate stakeholders about the District’s improvement goals, progress made towards achieving those goals, and our future plans. This means the Board expects the Superintendent and her administrative staff to regularly take opportunities to represent and advance the district’s interests within the greater community. This means attending District-sponsored community events and other significant community functions, participating on task forces and boards, and sharing information through social media and local news.

 

My administrative team and I have made a point to attend many Ferndale school events – from the high school musical to when the Japanese national youth wrestling team competed against our region’s finest athletes. Members of our administrative team are also members of the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Whatcom Young Professionals, and many more groups.

 

We also use our communications team to share stories about the incredible things happening in our schools and the wonderful staff who work there. Since September, we have had a monthly series called Walk In Their Shoes, where our Communications Specialist follows one or two support staffers for half a day. So far, this series has covered a school nurse, technology staff, a middle school paraeducator, and elementary administrative assistants. This series educates the community on how staff beyond teachers and administrators – sometimes, staff that our families and students barely see – help keep Ferndale’s schools running behind the scenes. We also run many other monthly stories in our email newsletters to families and staff, highlighting unique programs (like Ferndale Family Partnership), classroom upgrades (like the Phonak sound systems), or stand-out students (like participants in the Solo & Ensemble music competition).

 

On top of these longer articles, our communications team posts countless photos almost every day to our social media pages of sporting events, cultural assemblies, award-winning staff, and more. And at the end every week, we share an update of our bond-related projects on Facebook, Twitter and our website. You can see our district’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages via the links in this sentence.

 

We have also shared our successes and future plans with local news outlets like the Ferndale Record and Cascadia Daily News. Occasionally, we will submit a guest editorial, such as when Executive Director of Communications Celina Rodriguez wrote in the Record about our goal of creating a climate of belonging for our Latino and Hispanic community in Ferndale Schools.

 

Finally, we post our Results policies – which tackle student achievement in our schools – on BoardDocs for the public to see. Stakeholders can also attend Board meetings to see Board members and the Executive Team discuss and update Results policies in real time.

 

3.5 We maintain an organizational culture that is open, responsive, and welcoming.

 

For this school year, our theme “You Belong” has centered around this exact topic. In a survey we conducted last spring, only a third of Ferndale High School students said they felt like they belonged in their own school. We found this unacceptable and began creating a plan to foster a more welcoming environment in our school district.

 

This campaign kicked off in August with a short video where Ferndale students of a variety of ages, ethnicities and abilities shared when a staff member made them feel like they belonged in Ferndale Schools. The video concluded with the message “We/You Belong Here” being repeated in many languages spoken by our families, including Spanish, Punjabi, Russian and Ukrainian.

 

Since then, we have made “You Belong” into a major campaign. We have given a free “You Belong” t-shirt to each of our staff members and asked them to wear it on Wednesdays – and many of them do! This contributes to a more welcoming culture among our staff, where they feel like they belong in our workforce. This winter, we began selling the shirts to the community at large after much demand.

 

We have also boosted employee morale and promoted kind actions by handing out Belonging Awards to staff. These awards go to staff, nominated by their peers, who have helped students, or their fellow staff feel like they belong in Ferndale Schools. These awards have become greatly coveted among our employees. When photos of award winners are posted on Facebook, the comment sections are flooded with fellow staff and community members praising and cheering on the award-winning staff. This helps create a more positive atmosphere on a social media platform that can sometimes be dominated by negativity.

 

Furthermore, our Administrative Team is currently reading the book “Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity” by Floyd Cobb and John Krownapple. This will help spur discussions about adjusting our systems to make sure everyone in the District feels a sense of belonging.

 

As mentioned in Indicator 3.2, our recently opened Ferndale Resource Center also increases a sense of belonging among our District families. The FRC assists families in a wide variety of ways – academic and behavioral support, food from the Ferndale Food Bank, free school supplies, translation and interpretation services, adult education programs, and so much more – which ensure that every family, regardless of their income or background or abilities, can feel welcomed in Ferndale Schools.

 

During my Entry Plan, we received many notes about Ferndale Schools needing to be more transparent and have better communication with the community. Being more open and responsive to feedback is something we have strived to improve over the past year. I dedicate at least one day a week to go into buildings and speak with teachers, support staff, administrators, and students, so they have a chance to offer input about their school’s operations.

 

One example of how we have successfully addressed community feedback is with the closure of FHS’s Old Main. As the date for demolition got closer and closer this winter, some in the community expressed a lot of concern about tearing down the decades-old building that held many memories for them. In response, we hosted the #GoodbyeOldMain open house in December 2022, which gave everyone in the community one last chance to reminisce and say goodbye. We will also hold an open house of the new FHS Academic Wing in March that everyone in the community can attend.

 

4. Provide communication that is transparent, honest, and timely; ensures opportunities for appropriate input and strategic two-way communication between the District and its stakeholders; builds understanding and support for District efforts; and includes an annual progress report.

 

Interpretation

We understand this indicator requires our Superintendent, communications department, and District leaders to effectively share our District’s goals with stakeholders. It also requires us to constantly keep the community aware of the goings-on, achievements, and celebrations in our schools – whether it’s athletics, CTE programs, the arts or new curriculum.

 

Monitoring Indicator(s)

We know we are compliant when:

 

4.1 We provide communication that is transparent, honest and timely.

 

Our Communications Team has taken major strides in the past couple of years. Since the last update to this monitoring report, we have added two key members to the team: Executive Director of Communications Celina Rodriguez and Communications Specialist Jackson Hogan. Longtime staff member Lea Morris also joined the Communications Team as our Webmaster.

 

These three staff members have been diligent at communicating with families, staff, students, and community members through various avenues. One of those methods is ParentSquare, which has become an invaluable resource for directly reaching specific groups, such as the parents of a certain school. We can now pinpoint messages to those families or staff that don’t require a social media blast to the entire community – for example, if only the elementary schools have an early release one day because of family-teacher conferences. And as mentioned earlier, ParentSquare is a very accessible tool for our multilingual families, as it automatically translates messages into their home language.

 

Another tool our Communications Team and Administrative Team uses to communicate with specific groups are our SWAY email newsletters. These are sent weekly by our building principals to staff and inform them of the week’s events, include reminders about testing or programs, and more. These are similar to the SWAY emails the Superintendent sends the Board every week, which keep Board members in the loop about school visits, the Entry Plan, future Board-related events, and more.

 

Perhaps our widest-reaching form of communication is our social media pages. We typically use posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more celebratory purposes: photos of our smiling students, award-winning staff, and breathtaking construction photos. But these posts have a purpose beyond showing off cute kids and happy teachers. This type of communication, in a less-blunt way, can demonstrate our students enjoying the everyday learning process. And it’s important to let the community know about the little moments like upcoming musicals, radio station visits, and field trips to the park. These posts also show how these fun moments tie into students’ education – for example, that Central Elementary park field trip included lessons about the Lummi Nation’s history and the role of clouds in the water cycle.

 

Our Communications Team and the Superintendent collaborate with Construction Services Group and Cornerstone General Contractors to write Bond Updates every week, which are emailed to hundreds of subscribers and posted to our website and our Twitter and Facebook pages weekly.

 

As mentioned in Indicator 3.4, we also tell our community about upcoming events, exceptional students, and other exciting school-related topics in our monthly newsletter articles.

 

If there is an aspect to this indicator that we need to improve, it is with our website. Our Communications Team has started the process with the Northwest Education Service District 189 for website consulting services.

 

                        

 

4.2 We provide communication that ensures opportunities for appropriate input and strategic two-way communication between the District and its stakeholders.

 

On our social media posts, any stakeholder can comment with a question, compliment, or concern. Stakeholders can also directly message District staff and/or Board members using the online forms described in Indicator 2.1.

 

ParentSquare also has the capacity for two-way communication. If a teacher sends her students’ families an update, families can respond with questions or comments. And as mentioned in Indicator 4.1, those conversations are automatically translated into families’ home languages.

 

Our district has task forces and advisory committees made up of both external and internal stakeholders, such as the Bond Oversight Committee and the Early Learning Task Force. These groups meet regularly to provide input to District leadership on their specific field, and what we could be doing better.

 

In the spring of 2022, shortly after I was chosen as our new Superintendent, we held a Coffee & Connect meet-and-greet in Pioneer Pavilion. This was a great opportunity to meet a wide spectrum of community members and have them share their concerns about our schools. We plan on holding another Coffee & Connect event in the near future. Also, as noted in Indicator 3.3, I received input from many staff, student, and community groups this fall as a part of my Entry Plan.

 

In the recent past, mostly during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hosted weekly Facebook Live chats every Thursday, where our Executive Team and guests would answer live questions and inform the public about exciting upcoming events. However, the viewership for these quickly dwindled in early 2022, so we made the decision to cancel them due to lack of community interest as we transitioned back to normal school operations that requires fewer updates on shifting rules.

 

4.3 We provide communication that builds understanding and support for District efforts.

 

Much of the communication that falls under this Indicator has been described previously in this report, such as our newsletter articles or Bond Updates – see Indicators 3.4 and 4.1 for more information.

 

One communication effort that has yet to be mentioned is our successful February 2022 levy campaign. We made a full-court press on social media that winter with consistent posts describing how levy dollars fund crucial staff positions and beloved programs such as music. We also highlighted the differences between federal ESSER funds and levy dollars, as there was some confusion. Our efforts paid off, as the levy passed decisively, with nearly 60% support from our voters!

 

And on a lighter – yet still important – note, right before the start of school, we shared the Schoolbus Karaoke video in August. In this clip, played at the Back-to-School Kickoff event for staff, I drove around and sang pop songs with prominent Ferndale figures like business owners, firefighters and Mayor Greg Hansen. This clip showed that we were teaming up with the entire community to provide the best education for our children, and got our staff and families excited for a new school year. Various people from the community were invited to this Kickoff event, which symbolized Ferndale’s collective support of our staff.

 

4.4 We provide communication that includes an annual progress report.

 

During the previous Superintendent’s tenure, we never published an annual progress report, and have not formally published one since her retirement in the fall of 2021. It is unclear if previous administrations prior to 2009 published annual progress reports. As part of my Entry Plan, we plan to write these in the near future – but our first step is to create a district-wide strategic plan by December 2023, with indicators to measure progress. Our goal is to have the first progress report released in the spring of 2024. I am currently engaging in collecting baseline data that will determine our strategies and outcomes.

 

However, we do provide ample information to the Board and the public about our financial status, staffing levels and more through the annual budget. Every summer, the finalized budget is presented at a public hearing before a regularly scheduled Board meeting. Before this hearing, the budget is publicly posted on our website. Financial statements are also provided to the Board at every meeting in their consent agenda.

 

Stakeholders can also find test scores, enrollment data, staffing levels and more on OSPI’s Report Card website, which is updated by the state annually.

 

 

Superintendent’s Final Remarks

 

A school district is a major component of a community. We provide hundreds of jobs, educate thousands of children, and serve as a lightning rod of discussion. That is why it is crucial for everyone – staff, students, community members – to know about what’s going on in Ferndale School District.

 

We want the community to celebrate with us in our moments of success. We want them to be aware of any difficult or contentious decisions we may have to make. And above all, we want them to feel like they belong in Ferndale Schools.

 

I’ve returned to a tagline many times during my time here in Ferndale: #OneTeamOneTown. As I said in the OE-8 Monitoring Report, all of us are on a journey towards continuous improvement together. And communication is a key tool that helps stakeholders stay aware of the District’s goals, successes, and challenges.