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Unsure_Somewhat%20Confident%20Open%20Responses.pdf

Document typeother
Date2023-09-01
Source URLhttps://go.boarddocs.com/wa/moseslake/Board.nsf/files/DA62M602CCE0/$file/Unsure_Somewhat%20Confident%20Open%20Responses.pdf
Entitymoses_lake_school_district (Grant Co., WA)
Entity URLhttps://www.mlsd161.org
Raw filenameUnsure_Somewhat%20Confident%20Open%20Responses.pdf
Stored filename2023-09-01-unsuresomewhatconfidentopenresponses-other.txt

Parent document: Regular Meeting following Surplus Hearing at 6_00 P.M.-10-17-2024.pdf

Text

Answers to the following question from the people who said they are
UNSURE/SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT in Moses Lake School District:

What could Moses Lake School District do to increase your confidence and support of
the District?

Admin needs to show they have reined in spending and have adequate control over the
financial position of the district. You have not proven that in recent years, at all.

Be fair. Don't increase caseloads for some programs but not for others. If | can't trust you to
be fair, how can | trust you in other matters?

Be more upfront
Bring teachers back.

Clear and concise communication on a regular basis. Describe to processes and checks
established to prevent this in the future. Be very specific about what is or is not included in
bond/levy items, and what additional impact it will have on community members. Deliver to
the voters what they approved and not switch the deliverable(s) without public comment or
input. Prove that the MLSD Board and Leadership can be trusted and held accountable.

Continue communicating the financial information without any perceived bias on a monthly
basis

Continue to explain what is happening and what effects those actions will have on our
students and community. | helps us feel like what you guys are doing as a school board is
about the students instead of about politics or yourselves.

Continue with the current communication and continue to follow through.
continued full transparency to build back trust.

Continured transparency with the staff as a whole and the voting public about our district's
financial situation. Especially for the general public, educate that there are "pots of $" that can
only be expended in the area ear marked.


District admin take pay cuts to show their support. Coaches had to take $1 contracts.
Advisors have to volunteer while district admin kept their full salaries.

Follow the state requirements. Elementary PE would be a start. Bring back staff.

Full transparency in funds
Fund the arts properly.

Get rid of all of people holding high ranking positions that are still the same people that have
been here through all of this. No one is going to trust the district with the same people running
it.

Hold the past people accountable
How are they able to hire back some staff, what funds, and earlier they mentioned back in
September how to pay emploees in the month of November was being questioned.

| completely support staff and students, admin & board of directors, not so much.

| don’t really know.

| feel pretty confident. But when the Levwy is run again, we need lots of specifics going out to
the community about what has been "lost" this year and what the repercussions going forward
would look like.

| feel that we have not been told the entire truth about where the money will be going and how
it will be spent.

| think the communication and transparency have increased but it needs to continue. Also
more rigorous follow through and evaluations of the teachers

| wish the SpEd services were better. | have a special needs child who is super smart and |
probably will not choose to enroll her next year because | believe she would learn more ina
private setting and wouldn’t be around extreme behavior of other students.

| would like to see accountability across all of the administrative departments and would have
preferred to see most of the necessary cuts come from district administration rather than
programs for the students.

| would like to see more fundraisers for the school or community effort to make things happen
and help save money.


| would like to see the district accomplish something great rather than continually have to
scramble to fix major preventable errors.

Improve board membership. Why was Monty Sabin terminated when he barely had time to
learn the system he inherited? This was a board problem as much as anything.

It is clear that a large portion of the financial situation is due to an accounting error. From the
information | have absorbed, there has not been a clear explanation on what that money was
spent on. There should be transparency about what those funds were used for (in
considerable excess).

Just keeping us informed
Keep being upfront and honest with us.

More and continued open communication. Information available to public about money usage,
jobs, hiring, ability to change more members of the school board should the need arise even if
their 'term' isn't complete.

More financial details of allocation

More people with access and/or oversight of finances. Not jumping to throw someone under
the bus before even investigating. Greater transparency in communication.

More services for highly capable students and more chances for accelerated learning in
elementary and middle school

My students are not affected noticably by the issues, other than crowding at Digital Learning
Center as more students transitioned to online classes. | would like to suggest a great
fundraising activity that different programs could run (choir, FFA, band, etc): craft fairs. They
could be held in the gym or on the field, would be coordinated by the kids and their
teacher/volunteers, and could generate extra income to continue to fund their activities.

Nothing for now

One actually have a new levy put in to this this ballot or a special election to pass a levy to kit
those funds that we need and two people but how can you hire people when you have no
money | think the extensive audit is a good idea figure out where those funds went because
people need to be paid. We need school teachers we need nurses we need bus drivers.

Open communication and transparency with community, parents and its employees


Prove that they are using funds properly
Prove there is no more corruption

Put the kids first

Quality of my child’s teacher last year.

Respond to complaints and situations in a full disclosure manner so that we know that things
are being taken care of. For example, when there are bad situations that happen within the
district and the paper writes about it, especially when it goes viral on Facebook, the public
wants as far as solutions go. The first example that comes to mind is the nurse shortage and
the child with the seizure. This could potentially be a lawsuit and the school district needs to
stay on top of these things to avoid lawsuits, but first, to protect the children.

Since | am a vanguard student, having money that can support what we did for the first year
back again.

Stop changing school times, programs be more consistant, and sincerely ask for help from the
community.

The audit
Unknown at this time

Hire competent employees.

Honestly

Being good stewards of the money, running a tight budget, educating board members,
continued transparency of board meetings minutes and approvals