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December Meeting Recap
On December 7, the Board met to discuss and adopt rules on graduation pathways, discuss a draft of the annual charter schools report, and approve the draft strategic plan (outlining Board work moving forward through 2028). The Board also welcomed a panel to discuss the need to extend the emergency waiver for certain graduation requirements.
Find the agenda, supporting materials, and links to TVW’s video footage of the December 7 meeting on SBE’s meeting site.
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 As a west-coast state, educators can incorporate a lot of hands-on learning into lessons about the sea. Many Washington students may not know that these lessons in school can translate to meaningful careers—careers like the ones at SeaLife Response, Rehabilitation, and Research (SR3) located in Des Moines.
The non-profit invited State Board of Education representatives to visit and learn more about how educators can connect with this nonprofit and how the organization relies on interns and volunteers to rehabilitate our state’s sea life. Board member, Harium Martin-Morris, Executive Director, Randy Spaulding, and communicators, Stephanie Davidsmeyer and Indiana Hilmes visited along with Snorkels, the State Board’s mascot. Check out Indy's From Student to Professional segment with Casey Mclean (Executive Director of SR3 and licensed vet).
In a pioneering effort by the state legislature and the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) in promoting mastery-based learning, the Board is excited to offer new funding and support for 20 schools across the state. The awarded schools are now part of Cohort 2 of the Mastery-based Learning Collaborative (MBLC) - a grant program created to support mastery-based learning (MBL) - sometimes called competency-based education.
The MBLC is now 40-schools strong (Cohort 1 was announced last year). Schools were selected to be a part of it through a competitive application process. Grantee schools receive professional learning to successfully move their instruction to align with the state’s culturally responsive-sustaining MBL framework, which was informed by national MBL work. Schools also participate in the wider MBLC community, so that schools can learn from and support each other in their work.
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After a runoff election administered by the Washington State School Directors’ Association, the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) will welcome new member, Ronnie (Ron) Mabry, this coming January. He was elected by school board members to serve as Eastern Washington Position 1, a position held by MJ Bolt who represented for two terms.
“We’re excited to have Ron on our Board,” said State Board of Education Chair, Bill Kallappa. “His experiences will bring valuable military, business, and engineering perspectives to our discussions. I am eager to work with him and learn more about his time on the Kennewick school board and in the Tri-Cities community.”
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At the December 7 meeting, the State Board of Education directed staff to develop draft proposed rules for further consideration that would extend the emergency waiver of the pathway requirement to students graduating in 2024. To date, no policy decision has been made.
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