At our February 15 all staff meeting, Tim shared with us the ESD’s legislative priorities related to McCleary funding and the impact of the State Employee Benefits (SEB) on ESDs. He also shared some next steps and areas of exploration for new and expanded programs to address district needs. Click here to view Tim’s presentation.

“We will continue to turn over the large rocks that prevent districts from performing their mission,” he said. “We are going to take on big projects because we do hard things.”

Behavioral Health Support & Intervention

Jeffrey Niess gave a presentation on the The 5 Levels of Behavioral Health Support and Intervention that he has been collaborating with other leaders in the Teaching & Learning department on. Disruptive student behavior and mental health support is one big area where our districts have asked for ESD support this year. The ESD will be exploring the possibility of running a residential treatment program for youth in Washington who are currently sent to a facility in Kansas.

Quest Academy Update

Sara Paul brought three of her Quest Academy staff down for the day to report on the Cowlitz school, now in its third year. Click here to read the Quest presentation. Jeremy Jones also energized ESD staff and helped us understand what it feels like to be a Quest student.

League of Communicators

The meeting was concluded with a fun presentation by some caped Communications crusaders who helped us understand who the Communications staff members are, what they all do and how they serve ESD programs and districts. Click here to view the Communications presentation.