Lots of work accomplished at annual Cabinet retreat

Cabinet members were engaged in a day-long planning retreat in July, with a jam packed agenda that started with each member sharing their challenges and accomplishments from the past year.

Specialized Student Services is proud that IEP files from 28 districts have all been centralized at the ESD and new behavioral health priorities are being implemented. The ESD-U program got some love from the state legislature in terms of grant funding to help the next cohort of participants pay a portion of their tuition. Kudos to our Specialized Transportation department for achieving 100 percent on the most recent school bus inspection and also to the work Gavin Hottman and the communications team did on the statewide “hold harmless” and bargaining work through WASA. In addition to being head of HR, Marnie Allen has worked closely with both Vancouver and Evergreen public schools on all things related to land use and permitting over the last three years.

Cabinet members also discussed a long page of initiatives as priorities for current and future work. New behavioral intervention services, a long range capital facilities plan, obtaining additional funding for Threat Assessment and expansion of ESD-U, early learning transportation and the ESA are just a few of the items on the list.

Watch for updates on these and other initiatives as the work progresses.