Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home School Board Monday gave Supt. Tom Yahraes what amounted to a big thumbs-up after an evaluation in closed executive session.
Trustees released a statement that read: “The School Board noted their collective appreciation of Supt. Yahraes’ visionary leadership, his understanding of current laws and policies, work ethic, open-door policy, outstanding skills working with people and his ability to communicate with the community, families, students and district employees. The board looks forward to seeing his goals and good ideas succeed.”
Board members voted 8-0 to approve the statement during its regular meeting Monday night.
“I really appreciate the evaluation process in reviewing all nine standards, providing me feedback,” Yahraes said. “I appreciate the time and care and specific comments regarding each area and recognizing some of the initiatives that I have helped encourage in our district. This feedback has been valuable as well as the shared leadership of the board and the desire and will of our complete K-12 organization to continuously improve for our community and our students.”
The board evaluated Yahraes in nine areas on a scale of 0 to 1, rating whether he meets or does not meet performance standards.
Chairman Mike Reynolds said the composite score is 1, meeting the performance standard in every area.
The areas of evaluation include visionary leadership; policy and governance, communications and community relations, effective management, curriculum planning and development, instructional leadership, resource management, ethical leadership and labor relations.
“The board was unanimous that Supt. Yahraes meets in all nine performance standards,” the board’s release said. “The past year has been positive with many changes that are moving our district in the right direction.”
Among those changes are passing a bond levy; moving to a five-day school week; applying for and receiving Measure 98 funds for college, career and technical education and dropout prevention programs; developing goals, action and evaluation plans; revamping instructional schedules; different personnel allocations; professional development; and instituting both student services and teaching and learning department focuses.
The board reviewed districtwide actions and evidence of improvement and gains in the superintendent’s priority areas, the release said.
All first-year action plans were executed effectively and in a timely manner. Yahraes was proactive in making sure all information and reports were orderly and informative allowing board meetings to run smoothly and efficiently.
He was “honest, open, direct, fair, timely, positive and always driven for improvement and to do what is right, leading by example.”
He created a culture shift of holding each other accountable for higher performance and better results; encouraged teaching and learning to be the primary focus, continuously looked to put the right people in the right positions and inspired people to lead and achieve, the release said.
Board members present at the meeting were Jim Gourley, Ben Emmert, Jason Van Eck, Chanz Keeney, Reynolds, Angela Clegg, Carol Babcock and Debra Brown. Jason Redick was absent.
In other business:
n Yahraes updated the board on the development of a five-year strategic plan.
The district concluded staff meetings in January and held work sessions with student leadership and junior high students, Yahraes said. Thirty-one persons attended a community forum on Feb. 8, and a survey is under way.
So far, 240 surveys have been completed, with 40 percent of responses coming from students and 46 percent from parents and community members.
A link to the survey is available on the district’s website: http://www.sweethome.k12.or.us/ or on the district’s Facebook page. The survey will remain available through Friday, Feb. 15.
Yahraes reported highlights from the various work sessions.
Among student responses, the top of the list for what makes Sweet Home great is the community’s giving spirit, with the community being tight-knit and supportive. Respondents indicated they wanted the service-oriented school culture, good activities and athletic opportunities to continue.
They would like to see “Google classrooms,” with updated technology and better wi-fi; more career workforce and trade-related offerings; more arts, music and programming opportunities at the elementary schools; more inviting and stimulating facilities that look less like “prisons and bathroom renovations;” high school students getting more involved with mentoring younger students; cell phone-free periods, with cell jamming devices; and a way for all children to graduate.
Community members offered similar ideas, echoing the service-oriented theme and supporting continued opportunities in activities and athletics.
Community members wanted to see the district honor local industry with strong natural resource offerings, particularly in forestry; more pre-school and kindergarten connections; more behavior specialists; and training and help for children and families that need support for drugs and alcohol issues or faced with trauma, with a focus on overall wellbeing.
Yahraes said the district isn’t going to wait till a five-year strategic plan is in place. Some of these ideas are already in the works, with plans under way to improve technology at the Junior High and begin a forestry program at the High School.
The district is planning a series of community connection forums in partnership with various agencies, beginning this spring, to inform and empower parents and families on a variety of topics, Yahraes said. Those will range from drug and alcohol addiction, nutrition and bullying to district policies and curriculum.
The next major step is the creation of a core team to review the data and begin drafting the strategic plan, Yahraes said. The team will include 10 to 15 people from among various stakeholders, such as high school students, parents, elementary schools and others.
The district has already been asking for volunteers at meetings and has started filling the team, Yahraes said.
The team will begin meeting in late February or early March to begin reviewing data and findings.
n The board held the first reading of a policy update that will allow students to begin kindergarten early if they meet criteria based on cognitive, physical and emotional readiness. Currently the district’s policy sets a hard limit based on age.
The board could approve the policy after its second reading during its regular meeting on March 12.
n The board hired Kristin Adams as the high school success coordinator and Chris Hiaasen as high school vice principal. Hiaasen will take the position beginning July 1, following the retirement of Steve Brown.
n The board accepted the retirement of Allen Buzzard, a junior high language arts teacher.
n The board reviewed an updated plan for the Sweet Home Junior High remodel that moves the public exit from the parking lot to 22nd Avenue from Mountain View Road.
The initial plan was to place it next to the bus entrance and exit on Mountain View, but board members were concerned that the two driveways would be too close, creating safety issues.
“It looks a lot better,” Gourley said as other board members nodded.
n The board accepted the donation of a vintage Cushman golf cart from Harlan Shortreed to the high school baseball team.