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Superintendent Message

Good afternoon staff,

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend! Ours was spent with our German Shepherds at our property outside Randle, so it was a much needed time to relax!

I have spoken with administrators and counselors and we are very close to a draft run of schedules. If you have any questions, the best thing to do is simply talk to your principals or counselors. The secondary schools are much more complicated to run, but in conversations with Emilia, they are super close and in good shape to get those out. This is impressive; we have never been this far along with scheduling as we are this year.

I have been asked to get Right Response De-escalation Training (NOT restraint) for our whole staff at the beginning of next school year. I am working with Clear Risk to set this up, as they have a max of 40 participants per training session, so it will take some logistics on our part to get that done. I will let you know more as we get closer to August.

We had the opportunity to attend the WASA Inclusionary Practices seminar in Seattle with Clay, Tony Vo, and Jennifer Gilliland. It was very good and I think that Katie Novak did a great job explaining how implementation often lacks true buy-in that ALL kids can learn. I believe that is something we can all reflect on, because that must be the foundation of our work.

Hope you have a great rest of a short week, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything: ext. 2001 or 308-5052.

Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 5/31: PLC Release 1:40
• 6/1: Senior Assembly, 1:40-2:43
• 6/2: Graduate walk through at ES/MS, 9:00-10:00
• 6/3: Graduation, 9:00

Upcoming Events

• 6/6: Community Council, 6:00 HS Library
• 6/5-6/9: Camp Wooten
• 6/8: Kindergarten Graduation, 8:30, MS Gym
• 6/8: 8th Grade Promotion, 6:00, MS Gym
• 6/12: Last Day of School, 11:00 release

Tax Savings Benefits of DCP: https://www.drs.wa.gov/dcp-tax-savings-newsfeed/
SEBB NEWSLETTER: https://www.hca.wa.gov/assets/pebb/sebb-may-2023-intercom-newsletter.pdf
VEBA: https://www.veba.org/home/videos/

Congratulations to all of our STATE participants this last weekend! GO BEARS!

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Superintendent Message

Good afternoon,

To say that I have been slammed is an understatement! I am very thankful that Erich Bolz is now at the elementary helping Lisa in administration. That is awesome; as many of you know he started his teaching at Ki-Be Elementary, so I told him that absolutely nothing has changed in our facility since he left!

I will be finalizing staffing for the district this week and have already spoken with many of you who may be requesting a move or a move is necessitated due to student count or ESSER fund elimination. We had a meeting with Jennifer and Edna in late April so that we all know the appropriate provisions of the contract that apply and both agree on the process.

We have baseball, fast-pitch, track and tennis all moving into playoffs, so if you get a chance to get out and support them, please do it. The kids and parents really appreciate seeing you at events!

If you need anything, don't hesitate to call x2001 or my cell at 308-5052 or 539-0039.

Have a great week!

- Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

5/17: PLC Release 1:40
5/18: HS Spring Concert 6:30

Upcoming Events

• 5/22: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room
• 5/22: School Play 6:30
• 5/24: PLC Release 1:40
• 5/26: Early Release 11:00
• 5/29: Memorial Day– No School

kbhsathletics.com for up to date athletic schedules.

Staff Member in Focus: Erich Bolz

It is my absolute pleasure and honor to serve as Interim Vice Principal at Ki-Be Elementary for the remainder of the school year (if substitute is a more acceptable term, feel free to insert it and also, please alter or truncate to best serve your purpose).

It is a special opportunity for me, as I started my career in public education at Ki-Be Elementary and Middle in 1995. Mrs. Upton was one of my students in my first year and later we were colleagues in Pasco School District, where I retired in 2020.

I look forward to supporting Mrs. Upton, the children, staff, and families, and wider school community in the coming month. I would love to have the opportunity to meet you and don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of service.

Educationally yours!

Erich Bolz- Interim Vice Principal, Ki-Be Elementary

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Superintendent Message

Good morning,

It looks like we are finally turning the corner on spring/winter. This weekend I got the dandelions sprayed, the irrigation fixed and the mower ready to go for next weekend!

We have a board meeting tonight, which follows the first ever Board Question and Answer session last Thursday night. It went really well, and I definitely like the format. It gave our two board members who were there a great opportunity to respond directly to questions, which of course they cannot do during a formal meeting. I anticipate more of these low-key gatherings, as it got good response from those in attendance and I received emails and texts saying the same.

I had a great time at the MS track meet last week, and thought the kids did well! The staff on hand who were volunteering were outstanding and I spoke with more than a couple coaches from other schools who felt it was well done. Nice job everyone - especially Gary and his staff!

For those of you working on the curricula with me, I received a bunch of boxes late last week so I will go through them and let you know what came in and what we are still waiting on. You on the committee can expect an invite from me sometime tomorrow.

Have a great rest of the week and feel free to call or email if you need anything!

Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 4/24: School Board Meeting. 6:30. Board Room
• 4/26: PLC Release 1:40
• 4/28: Super Hero Day at the Elementary

Upcoming Events

• 5/2: Ki-Be Community Council Meeting, 6:00, HS Library
• 5/3: PLC Release 1:40
• 5/8: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room

Staff Member in Focus:  Emilia Rivas

Aside from a brief time in San Antonio, I've lived in Kennewick my entire life. After high school, I attended CBC and then earned my BA from WSU (Go Cougs!). I've worked in education for 12 years now, and after majoring in Information Systems I decided to finally pursue a career in IT. Now I get the best of both worlds! I am a bit of an at-home mixologist and I love to cook. I hunt in the fall, fish throughout the year, and spend my summers paddle boarding and camping. I love music and sports, so I try to catch as many concerts and games as I can.

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Superintendent Message

Good morning,

April is flying by! After spending a week in and out at the elementary, I am now trying to catch up on my regular job, and we have some info moving forward.

Tomorrow is a meeting at Blankslate that is a result of the district receiving a grant through WSAC, the Washington Student Achievement Council. It’s primary purpose is to create opportunities for Benton City students in the areas of STEM and career outreach. This grant will not fund other students from other districts, so we are able to design opportunities for what our kids need, not a one size fits all. A representative from each building will be there, along with folks from WSU-TC, CBC, The STEM Foundation and community partners.

We will be holding a Question and Answer meeting with members of the school board and district staff to answer questions about budget development for next year on Thursday at 6:30 PM in the board room. Drew will be discussing the timeline and early assumptions about staffing and student projections for 23-24. We still plan on handling staff decreases through attrition in all of the bargaining units.

We are holding a summer school meeting today for secondary schools at 2:45 PM with principals. We will review the plans and opportunities for kids. At the HS, we received word yesterday that there will not be funding for summer Running Start, but everything else should stay status quo as long as we have a minimum number of kids willing to participate. Part of the elementary summer program will include a STEM Camp for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at WSU-TC, along with PD for those grade level teachers who participate in summer school. This is a unique opportunity and Jon Lobdell from WSU-TC met with us this morning to ensure that we have slots reserved. I will pass along more information as we develop the program.

Have a great rest of the week!

Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 4/19: PLC Release, 1:40
• 4/20: Elementary Class Pictures
• 4/20: School Board Q & A, 6:30, Board Room
• April 21-22: FFA Plant Sale, 3:30-6:00 PM on the 21st and 9AM-Noon on the 22nd, Ki-Be Greenhouse

Staff Member in Focus:  Christian Wingle

I’ve lived in the Tri-Cities area my entire life. I went to school at Columbia Basin College and Washington State University for my undergraduate degree. I received my Master’s in Teaching at Washington State University.

I started working as a paraeducator right out of high school and found that I have a passion for teaching. I teach 7th grade Eng-lish and 6th grade typing. I love working at Ki-Be MS. Go cubs!

In my free time, I like doing anything outdoors including hiking, backpacking, camping, and fishing. I also enjoy traveling, reading, and watching WSU football.

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Superintendent Message

Good morning,

There is nothing better than getting up at 4:30 AM on March 6 because snow had been forecast for the night before! Luckily, none came, because no one wants to think about dealing with that!

Spring sports is off and running – and hitting, and catching, and hur-dling, and backhanding! Spring is typically one where wind and rain hits the first few games, and 100 degree heat hits the last couple, so bring a lot of different gear with you. I encourage you to come out and support our teams.

Each building should be providing plans for PD and in-service op-tions for this Friday. I know that the elementary will be doing more curriculum training with ARC, while the secondary’s will be trained on Hom-eroom and MAP for PLC’s. Remember that sign in is required to be paid if you work on Friday.

Congratulations should go out to the Davenport Gorillas boys basket-ball team as they won the state championship on Saturday. Why should we congratulate them, you might wonder? Because they were coached by Matt Henry, son of HS Principal and proud dad Clay Henry! It is rare that you go to state, much less win it, so I am glad that Clay got to watch this opportunity!

Finally, Clay will be interviewing prospective HS VP/AD applicants soon, so he may be in contact with HS staff and a school board member to sit in on those. Have a great week everyone!

Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 3/7: Ki-Be Community Council Meeting, 6:00, HS Library
• 3/8: PLC Release 1:40
• 3/8: Band, Choir & Drama Presentation, 6:30, PAC
• 3/10: No Classes, Professional Development

Upcoming Events

• 3/13: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room
• 3/15: PLC Release 1:40
• Music In Our Schools Month
• National Nutrition Month

Staff Member in Focus:  Rebecca Turner

Next week, Mrs. Rebecca Turner will be honored with the 2023 Crystal Apple Award for Kiona-Benton City School District! Mrs. Turner joined the Ki-Be family in 1998 and serves as a Resource Room teacher at the Middle School.

The awards ceremony will be March 9th at 4:30 at ESD123.

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Superintendent Message

Good morning and happy Tuesday!

I hope you all had a good three day weekend! Mine was fairly relaxing – with the levy now solidly on the positive side, I managed to relax a little bit. Of course now that we start thinking about Spring sports, we are in for a cold front this week, so if you see any snowflakes, make sure to check your phone or email in the mornings!

On Friday, the board will be having a work session to discuss our current budget information and to hear recommendations on planning going forward. Our non-personnel costs have skyrocketed this year. You all know that because of your own grocery, heat or gas bills, but our food, diesel and contracted services (ESD) have grown at extremely high rates, doubling or tripling in some cases. With that, I will present the board some options to get us back on the long-term track to financial stability. Unfortunately, when non-personnel costs (read: non-negotiable, must have’s to operate) surge higher, we have to look at all options to get cash flow and operating costs down, which will mean some personnel cuts moving forward. So I will begin these discussions with the board and with building administrators in the next week or so.

Some of you have seen that we received an exploratory grant from OSPI to study the Balanced Calendar concept. Please understand, that means we are studying it, not adopting it. Quite frankly, it may not be an option for our district and our current CBA’s mandate that we bargain our calendar; I cannot impose it. But if OSPI wants to give us a grant to read some books and attend some meetings, I am game for that especially with no mandate to implement anything!

I have all sorts of meetings this week, from Tri-Tech Superintendent’s to CTE Gen-eral Advisory Council to a superintendent’s breakfast in Walla Walla, so I will be juggl-ing. But if you need anything you can email or text me at 539-0039. Have a great short week!

Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 2/20-2/24: National FFA Week
• 2/20: No School
• 2/21: Middle School Family Committee Meeting, 5:30, MS Library
• 2/22: PLC Release 1:40
• 2/22: Running Start Information Night, 6:00, HS Library

Upcoming Events

• 2/27: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room
• 3/7: Ki-Be Community Council Meeting, 6:00, HS Library

Staff Member in Focus:  Brett Cox

• CWU class of ‘90
• Wife Julie teaches English at Kamiakin
• Sons, Xavier 17 and Cedric 15
• 26 years in public schools, bus driver– Superintendent and every job in between.

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Superintendent Message

Happy Monday everyone,

We’re off on another busy week in KBSD! With only two more days to go be-fore the levy election, now would be the time for anyone who can to contact parents of students and teams and remind them to get their ballots in. I will let everyone know the preliminary results tomorrow evening when I see them.

I will be testifying before the Senate K-12 Education Committee today in support of SB 5668, which is a bill that will address the cost-sharing that goes along with small schools sending kids to Skills Centers, such as we do with Tri-Tech. Right now the district splits the funding allocation with KSD for our kids who attend, but this bill would allow small schools like ours to get reimbursed for the full amount. This cost-share effects small districts much more than large districts as they offer many more programs than we do. It has bipartisan support, so hopefully we will see some movement on it.

We have a board meeting tonight at 6:30 PM if anyone would like to join in person or online. Not a big agenda; we are pushing back some items until after the levy results come in. As I said last week, we will be looking at cost-saving measures regardless of the outcome Tuesday in an effort to slim down our expenditures. In a related note, don’t forget that if you are contemplating retire-ment then get your letters in ASAP if you want to access the early notification bonus.

While we are on the topic, I know that there are rumors flying around regard-ing staffing for next year, what positions will be replaced, etc. Please under-stand – there have been no decisions made about that and quite frankly, the discussions haven’t even started! So if you are hearing discussions among peers that start with “Well I heard…”, please know, those are just rumors and have no basis in fact.

Have a great Monday and you will hear from me a few more times before the end of the week!
~ Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 2/13: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room
• 2/15: PLC Release 1:40

Upcoming Events

• 2/20: No School
• 2/21: Middle School Family Committee Meeting, 5:30, MS Library
• 2/22: PLC Release 1:40
• 2/27: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room

Staff Member in Focus:  Lacey Treat

I was born and raised in Selah Washington. I graduated from Selah High School in June of 1999. I am 1 of 5 children and the first in my family to graduate from college. My husband and I both attended college together at Cen-tral Washington University. I grad-uated in the spring of 2011 with my BA in early childhood educa-tion. My husband was offered an engineering position at Hanford in the summer of 2011 which is what brought us to the Tri Cities. I de-cided to go back to school and get my master's in special education in 2014. This will be my 9th year teaching!

My husband and I have three amazing children. My oldest daughter Breanna is attending college at CBC and currently works for Amazon. My middle child Kyler plays 14U Rep hockey for the Tri Cities Americans and will start 7th grade at Chief Joe in the fall. My youngest daughter Winry will start 5th grade at Kibe.

When I am not teaching, I love hiking in the Pacific Northwest, paddle boarding, camping, boat-ing, traveling, and spending quality time with my family.

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Superintendent Message

Good morning staff,

A few quick updates for the week: first, good luck to all teams that have finished the regular season and are moving forward in the playoffs. Clay, Jack and Heidi have done a great job coordinating and balancing sports this winter without an official AD.

We have a week to go before the ballots are counted in the levy elec-tion, so if you haven't voted, don't forget to turn in your ballots. We are in the process of looking at long term expenses, where our expenditures have increased over time and where we can make some cuts with or without the levy. Drew, Mona and I are committed to creating long-term financial stability. As a point, Drew and Mona shared yesterday that our personnel costs (all staff) have increased over 50% just in the last 10 years. So we will be looking at areas to slim down, and may slow down our "doubling up to catch up" of curriculum adoption to ensure that we are making purchases responsibly and prudently. But we also know that our kids are more challenged than at any time in our careers, so we have to make the decisions in the best interests of our students first. Our leg-islature and other factors will have definite impacts on staffing for 23-24 so stay tuned.

Included in this memo, over on the left hand side, is an announce-ment for Lori Collin's husband's Celebration of Life. I will be attending, and I imagine that a few of you may as well, so please make sure your supervisor is aware.

Have a great week and give me a call (539-0039) or send an email if I can assist with anything.

- Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 2/7: Community Council, 6:00, HS Library
• 2/8: PLC Release 1:40

Upcoming Events

• 2/13: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room
• 2/15: PLC Release 1:40
• 2/20: No School

Join us in a celebration of life for Larry Ray Wise

Friday, February 10th, 2023 @1:00 PM

Zillah Nazarene Church, 203 Miles Drive, Zillah, WA 98953

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Superintendent Message

Good morning staff,

Just want to pass on a few things. First, congrats to all of the folks who have announced their retirements! I don’t want to mention names on my end, but you probably have seen the board agendas. Remember you have until the end of the day tomorrow to let me know for your full bonus.

The community reaction to the upcoming levy has been great up to this point. Teddy, Mike, Shane Yoakum and I were out on Saturday and got posi-tive responses from everyone we spoke with. We cancelled yesterday due to the frigid weather; no need to get anyone sick. Remember to vote if you have-n’t already!

There are lot’s of rumors out there about positions getting replaced/not replaced, but no decisions have been made on any front. We will be working on staffing at the secondary level, and I have had good conversations at the buildings about exploring some new electives/options that kids want to take, not that kids have to take. A subtle but important difference.

Please let me know if I can help you out in any way and don’t hesitate to email or text me at 539-0039.

- Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 2/1: PLC Release 1:40

Upcoming Events

• 2/7: Community Council, 6:00, HS Library
• 2/13: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room

Staff Member in Focus:  Anthony Zarazua

Hi, my name is Anthony Zarazua. To my students, I'm known as Mr. Zarazua or Mr. Z. This is my first year teaching but I am a Ki-Be alum. I have lived in the com-munity for over 15 years and am happy to be a part of it. After graduating from Ki-Be, I attended Columbia Basin College for two years, then transferred to Central Washington University to earn my Bachelor's degree in English Education. I like to spend my time outdoors, with family, or with a good book. I am excited to be teaching English to a wonder-ful group of students. I am proud to be a Ki-Be Cub!

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Superintendent Message

Good morning all,

We had a substantial board meeting last night, with our first review of all three groups who took the CEE Surveys last fall. Principals will be meeting on Friday with Erich Bolz from CEE (former Ki-Be teacher!) and will be making arrangements to lead each building through the re-sults. There will be plenty to celebrate and several items to focus on.

The board accepted the retirements of Judi and Debbie last night, so congratulations to them for great careers and service to Ki-Be kids! For all postings of retirements/resignations, we will be posting as soon as we have a better understanding of legislative priorities. We will do every-thing possible to get a leg up on the big three and their inevitable launch of hiring.

A reminder– all district emails are public records and subject to review upon request. Please remember that when sending emails that may contain personal or private information.

I know that the testing season is beginning in earnest, so thank you to Joni, Araceli, Sally and the rest of our assessment team who are organizing this so well. As someone who has held Joni’s role, there are a lot of moving parts and we appreciate all of your hard work.

Have a great week! Call me at x. 2001 or 509-539-0039 if you need anything!

-Pete

What's Going On This Week

District

• 1/9: School Board Meeting, 6:30, Board Room
• 1/11: PLC Release 1:40
• 1/11: Instructional Materials Committee, 3:00
• 1/12: Legislative Presentation, ESD 123, 5:30

Upcoming Events

• 1/16: No School
• 1/18: PLC Release 1:40
• 1/19: Early Release 9-12 Grade ONLY 11:00
• 1/20: Early Release 11:00
• 1/24: Speaker Erin Jones, Middle School

Staff Member in Focus:  Jenny Careaga

Hi, my name is Jenny Careaga, my Cubs call me Mrs. C. I am the middle school art teacher and I absolutely love my job! I am new to teaching and new to the KiBe school district. Prior to my teaching career, I worked in the travel industry, dabbled in nuclear health physics and business owner-ship, and worked as a reatau-rant manager. I like to spend time with my family, garden-ing, cooking, and doing all things creative and artistic. I am "tickled pink" to teach art exploration to our students and watching the pride they show when they complete a work of art. I am so proud to be a KiBe Cub!