Not%20Confident%20Open%20Responses.pdf

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

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Answers to the following question from the 78 people who said they are NOT
CONFIDENT in Moses Lake School District:

What would it take to build your confidence in Moses Lake School District?

1. Perform a thorough investigation.

Yes, $250,000.00 is expensive but in comparison to the money that has been
misappropriated, that $250,000 is a very small percentage. That cost would cost the
population around $10.00 per person or even a little over $40 for the voter population in which
| believe they would willing contribute to this cost to receive a detailed report of the errors that
occurred. The people of Moses Lake deserve to know the full extent of the damage these
errors did, the steps taken that got the District in this predicament and how the District plans
to remedy it/prevent it from happening again.

2. Release the remaining bond funds back to the tax payers of Moses Lake.

As an employee of the Moses Lake School District that continually has to interact with the
general public, | have heard a growing concern about the District continuing in the
progression of building another elementary school. With the District being extremely short
staffed to the point that the staff cannot properly operate/maintain the buildings that it currently
has, the buildings having the ability to house the current student population and the financial
turmoil the District is in that will take several years to recover from, many community
members feel the planning/construction of another elementary school would be irresponsible.
Many do understand that the bond funds and levy funds are different financial pools. They
also understand that at the end of the day, many of the dollars that feed both come from the
public's pockets. During this delicate time, returning the bond funds to the public could gain
some trust of the people back until the District is in a better financial situation.


1. When the public voted for a High School the school district bamboozled us the taxpayer
into Vanguard Academy. Now the school district is bamboozling us again with a new (E-12)
school in way out of the city. We don't need more buildings in every upcoming neighborhood!
We need to invest on the current buildings/properties. | don't mean remodel a school, what |
mean use a bulldozer and literally build a new school. NOT another Groff Elementary
prototype: if it fails, don't repeat the mistake. Insanity: repeating the mistake expecting
different results! The worst buildings are: North Elementary, Larson Elementary, and Moses
Lake High School.

What would it take to build your confidence in Moses Lake School District:

2. How much are we (taxpayer) willing to pay for an investigation? $250,000.00 is 1% of
25,000,000.00 or Moses Lakes' population is roughly 25,888: that equates to $10.00 per
person.

1% of 25,000,000.00 is a cost of accountability, and not repeating the error again.

3. Cut your losses: return the bond funds to the taxpayer and admit to the errors made. When
the public asks for a replacement high school: give the taxpayer a high school!

4. No more build it and they will come!
I'm just a taxpayer with simple concepts.

100% Transparency
A balanced budget, and holding teachers accountable for poor performance

A commitment to getting to the bottom of things, holding the requisite people/departments
accountable, and an absolute commitment to pursue the will of the electorate in the future.

A complete turn over of all administration and board. Too many people are friends and
relatives and too much goes on behind the scenes.

A forensic audit and people held accountable for what they have done to this school district
and community.

A new school board that is business savvy, and knows how to make business decisions.

Accountability taken. Better, clear communication with community. That it SHOWS
children/youth are at the forefront of importance in education.

Actions showing they are looking out for the teaching and support of students not just the
administration

admins reducing their salary to help meet budget, students being allowed to attend their
boundary schools and having a normal school day instead of shortened days


All new people for leadership, school board and other district jobs
An increase in staff and removal of some current teachers.
At this point, fire the supt and have three board members resign. Short of that, nothing.

Better choices on how money is spent. More focus on education resources and less focus on
having the coolest tech.

Clear cut plans. Not vague emails about meeting with groups or individuals and hearing how
“great” they were. What's the plan to bring back staff? Who will be the checks and balances
for finances?

consider the ideas and opinions of people affected by your actions
Continued financial transparency, eliminating critical race theory and common core math.
Continued transparency. New school board - complete overhaul.

Detailed account of how they got into this financial situation, plans for recovery, and checks
and balance to avoid similar issues in the future

Earning the trust of the voters

Finances being used on programs that benefit students directly. Higher test scores and more
preparation for college/career readiness. Less tolerance for bullying and behavior that is
disruptive to student learning.

Fiscal responsibility, follow through with what we vote on (l.e. a second high school by the
fairgrounds), not make the students’ learning/school year suffer because you messed up the
money when it’s not their fault. | know it’s a tough situation all around, but it’s been years of
mess ups to make up for. | think it’s going to take years of a lot more than this to earn back
confidence in the community.

FOLLOWING IEP's and having the resources back to help those kids with an IEP. My
daughter feels like she is struggling and dislikes going to school for the first time ever because
she doesn't get the help she needs.

For people to at least look like that care about our children, not just the A students, start
teaching math, reading and writing with emphasis on the main subjects since Covid the kids
didn’t learn what they needed to learn and the chrome books where a waste of money. It
taught the children they need 24 hour internet (and no my child doesn’t have a phone).

For them to get their stuff together


Forensic audit and all leadership including the board, principals, super, etc taking a
managerial finance course. Listening to the lack of understanding of their own financial
statements and financial practices the last 6 months has been appalling. All would be fired in
the real world as leadership has to at least have the basic understanding to be able to see
when something doesn’t pass the smell test.

Full accountability by superintendent
Full investigation
Full transparency, honesty and accountability.

Higher expectations for students learning, better test score across the board, financial
accountability so that there can be enough staff to function fairly for the children.

Hire back teachers, give all that they have taken from the kids back to the kids, classes,
sports, programs. Go back to normal school start times.

| am not confident, and | am disheartened that the school district would take money from the
Boys and Girls Club to make up for it’s own poor handling of finances. The hours to help cut
back on costs, the bus scheduling problems, the 30 student classrooms, in combination with
basically stealing from the programs that help lower income families, are leaving single
parents and two-income families struggling. The only saving grace | have is my few
interactions with the teachers and staff at my son’s school. | have seen no accountability from
management, and it seems they are far removed from what is in the best interest of the
students and the community. Even the way this survey is written isn’t searching for actual
opinions, but leading questions to get the answers you want.

| need to see long term change and communication.

If the school district was led by someone who has the students’ best interest in mind and has
complete transparency with the public.

Make it right

More communication and care for the education for the students and not just giving them
"Basic" education

More transparency to decision making and outcomes.
New leadership and time

Positive movement forward. Seeing more success all around without having to sacrifice jobs,
or opportunities for the students.

Previous answer provides my thoughts.


Replace all board members immediately.

Replacement of all board members that were present during the period when there was gross
financial mismanagement.

School board/Admin actually listens to community and does what we vote for
See my replies to the other questions.

See previous answer

Seeing better help for students

Seeing sweeping changes in leadership and a distinct change in district wide attitude towards
why you exist as a school district. Get quality people. There are some very high quality people
in the district but they are mostly not allowed to push for excellence. There are a lot of people
who just don’t care about what they are doing and have no interest in helping the students
thrive and have all of the educational needs met.

Seeking help and support outside of the community, become a sovereign tribal entity and
seek out the many benefits and grants as a tribally recognized school district to help our
children regain full access to their education and activities.

Showing true dedication to the education of our children. There have been a number of letters
sent and decisions made since we have been here that shows the districts focus is not on
children’s education.

Staff that actually want to be there and teach!

Start caring for the kids more than just damn sports. You do understand that there is plenty of
talent within our students in this town that they can shine if we had another high-school and
another team in this town. It would bring out so much more talent in our students.

Start firing ppl who do not have students best interest or want to openly talk to parents. We
need better ppl who will do their job!

Stop making excuses. Be more transparent. Take actual effective action to correct the issues
in the district instead of wasting time and resources on pointless and insignificant changes
(example: the bus badges that were a disaster and unnecessary. There are way more serious
issues in the district that should be addressed first)

Student teacher ratio back to where it was. Shit down vanguard academy and make it a true
9th grade campus to alleviate overcrowding at the high school. Teachers at vanguard even
complain that there is no formal structure at their school. This set up is just a way for Moses
Lake to get graduation rates up. Students grading themselves? Have you ever heard of that-
that is vanguard academy. The students attend there to get an easy passing grade and not
have to work hard.


Tell us the good and bad

The district continues to struggle with fulfilling its fundamental obligations to the children.
Standardized testing performance, graduation rates, availability of programs for students with
exceptional needs, and other KPls suggest a pattern of underperformance.

The latest financial issues have brought the poor performance into view of a broader audience
and it hits people where it hurts as they buy paper, pay extra fees for gyms, and incur other
costs brought on by errors and failures.

This said, the focus should be on first time graduates in families, educational attainment, and
the availability of support at every level of capability for students. | have see no leadership
focused in these areas.

The school district could do what it promises and keep track of their money.

They don't seem to have control over their budget. Students don't appear to be gaining the
requirement skills and knowledge they will need after graduation, teachers don't seem to have
control over the students or classrooms. From the outside looking in it appears to be chaos. |
haven't been a fan of the school district for several years. The school system has become too
woke!! We need teachers to teach, get rid of all the bs woke crap and teach real subjects, real
life skills, teach kids resiliency and to think for themselves.

Time will show

To see the things | previously mentioned worked on.
Took accountability and actually cared about the kids.
Total transparency

Transparency in the form of how a budget shortfall can occur in this magnitude and what is
being done to prevent it in the future. Also, whoever was responsible for this shortfall in
accounting really should have their efforts examined thouroughly.

Transparency, honesty, ownership of responsibility and follow through. Build back
community’s trust and confidence.

Turn over finances to OSPI
Way more than they are willing to even think about

The district continues to struggle with fulfilling its fundamental obligations to the children.
Standardized testing performance, graduation rates, availability of programs for students with
exceptional needs, and other KPls suggest a pattern of underperformance.


The latest financial issues have brought the poor performance into view of a broader audience
and it hits people where it hurts as they buy paper, pay extra fees for gyms, and incur other
costs brought on by errors and failures.

This said, the focus should be on first time graduates in families, educational attainment, and
the availability of support at every level of capability for students. | have see no leadership
focused in these areas.

Full transparency in everything as well as giving the community a say in what is happening in
the school . As a parent | would like a say in what curriculum is best for the kids.

The board is whom | don't have any confidence.

quarterly financial reporting to community moving forward

stop making financial errors and bring back the younger new teachers. They are btter than the
old people

1. | genuinely appreciate the transparency that Mrs. Lewis has brought to the team. | also
appreciate her approach and direct nature of confronting the tough topics we need more of
this in our executive team/administration.

2. Our Board of directors are not entirely qualified to be acting as our guiding body, |
understand that these are elected positions and encourage stronger requirements.

3. Our district staff come across as widely disengaged with our youth and overwhelmed by the
situation at hand with the district. This was before the current mess and has only gotten
worse, we need a deep, widespread cultural reset.

4. As a parent of a minority (non-Hispanic) | can say that our district has a systemic racism
crisis on our hands that is harming the mental health of our children throughout all campuses,
we need deeper education for staff and youth district wide. Not one and done but ongoing.