School Board Recap: June 25, 2026

The Issaquah School Board held a regular meeting on Thursday, June 25, at the Issaquah School District Administration Building. The meeting was open to the public and broadcast live on the district’s YouTube channel, where a recording of the meeting is available. This recap highlights selected topics of discussion and board actions. It is not an official record of the meeting. Official minutes can be found on the district’s board meeting archive webpage, and additional information about future meetings is available on the School Board page.

 

Reflections About Graduations

School Board members shared their thoughts about the five graduation ceremonies that they had the opportunity to attend, including ACT (Academy for Community Transition), Gibson Ek High School, Liberty High School, Issaquah High School and Skyline High School. Board member Dr. Harlan Gallinger recommended that anyone who didn’t attend the Gibson Ek graduation tune in to hear the staff speaker (Dusty Duke) when the video is available on the district’s YouTube site. Board members and Superintendent Heather Tow-Yick talked about the meaningful moments watching our students graduate and transition, and thanked teachers, staff members and families who helped them achieve those milestone moments.

 

Works in Progress

Superintendent Tow-Yick highlighted activities throughout the district, including:

• The district celebrated retiring employees at a ceremony earlier in June. Tow-Yick also recognized and thanked several administrators who are retiring or transitioning to new roles.
• The past two weeks have been a busy time of hiring, a cabinet retreat and other departmental and team meetings to wrap up this school year and plan for next school year.
• The district’s Career Kickstart program is in its second year, offering 50 high school students the opportunity to participate in tours of local companies and organizations, job shadows, panel presentations and hands-on work experiences. Career Kickstart is supported by the Issaquah Schools Foundation as well as business and community partners that give their time and expertise to help our students explore career possibilities. These include SanMar, The Boeing Company, PACCAR Parts, Blue Origin and Snoqualmie Valley Health Hospital.

 

Student Voices Project and New High School Update

Principal on Special Assignment Julia Bamba and Student Representative to the School Board Krish Parashar shared an update about the Student Voices Project. Parashar shared that the project, “Blast to the Future,” worked to understand how students experience school, to gather honest feedback about what is and isn’t working, to reimagine what school could look like if students helped design it, and to make student voice a real part of decision-making. More than 100 students participated in 30 focus groups of four to six students each. They shared they would like more balance, more connections between school and real life, more support, more flexibility, and more meaningful experiences.

Students talked most about these topics, Parashar said:

• Future readiness, including career learning, real world relevance and skills, and future exploration.
• Belonging and inclusion, including relationships, school community, equity and inclusion.
• Wellness and safety, including mental health and stress, balance and burnout, health and safety.
• School experiences, including hands-on and engaging learning, personalized learning, grades and mastery, academics and support, workload, schedule and time, physical space and daily needs, digital tools and organization.

The student feedback will be one element that will be used to help inform the design of programs, schedules, spaces and learning models for the New High School. Bamba highlighted that the New High School Core Team has been selected, featuring educators who will work together on the program and instructions design.

 

City of Issaquah Parks Bond Renewal Measure

City Parks and Community Services Director Jeff Watling presented information about the proposed renewal of the city’s parks bond measure that is being considered for the November 3 ballot.

Most recently, park bond renewals were approved in 2006. The City Council is considering asking voters to renew the funding. Proposed projects include:

• Sports fields at Clark, Issaquah Valley and Grand Ridge elementary schools in a partnership project to convert the playfields to turf fields (using a cork/sand mix); of note is the fact that these are the three elementary schools that are inside the city limits of Issaquah.
• Two new trail corridors.
• Pickleball courts at Central Park.

 

Capital Projects Update: New High School

Tom Mullins, Director of Capital Projects, shared updated information about the New High School construction, including:

• Clearing, grading and excavation activities continue.
• Building materials are being stockpiled in preparation for ongoing work.
• Construction of retaining walls started during the week of June 8 and will be ongoing.
• Required water and sewer tie-in work on Providence Point property is scheduled to begin the week of June 22 and last about two weeks.

In July, the project is scheduled to begin demolition of the old water tower and the required roadway improvements on 228th Avenue Southeast.

Additional details about the project are available on the district website. Information about the programing and instructional model work is also available on the website.

 

Revision to 2026-27 Board Budget Development Guidelines

Executive Director of Finance and Budget Moriah Banasick updated the board members about shifting financial conditions affecting our district and other school districts, including a continued enrollment decline and ongoing operating cost pressures. Banasick and the Finance team proposed revising the board’s Budget Development Guidelines to reduce the reserve designated for future school facilities from $20 million to $5 million. This decrease should help maintain borrowing costs that the district incurs and decreases the risk that auditors and bond rating agencies increase scrutiny or identify financial concerns regarding reserve adequacy and long-term financial sustainability.

Key considerations include:

• Major capital projects are now substantially underway, with key project costs established through design-build contracts
• A $5 million reserve continues to provide funding for future school facility needs
• The revision would increase the unreserved fund balance to approximately 5%, aligning more closely with the board’s 3-7% reserve target

Board members asked follow-up questions, then voted to approve the revision.

 

Students and Telecommunications Device Update

Assistant Superintendent Jacqueline Downey and Executive Director of Elementary Education Melinda Reynvaan shared an update about cell phones with the board after the first year of implementation of the district’s cell phone/ personal device policy (Regulation 3245).

Downey also noted that the district has heard interest from community members about the amount of screentime during instructional time at schools. “We agree that technology needs to be used in service of meaningful learning; however, that is not what we’re going to be focusing on tonight,” she said. Later in the presentation, Downey noted that district leaders have a plan in place to collect data about classroom screentime use across the district to inform further guidance on use of technology in instruction.

Regulation 3245 is a minimum expectation throughout the district, and states:

• At elementary school, devices are turned off and put away during the school day and on school buses, unless authorized by school personnel.
• At middle school, devices are silenced and put away in backpacks or teacher-designated locations from the beginning to end of each class period. This extends to hallways and common areas while classes are in session.
• At the high school level, devices are silenced and put away in backpacks or teacher-designated locations from the beginning to end of each class period. This extends to hallways and common areas while classes are in session. Students may access devices during non-instructional times such as before and after school, during passing periods and at their designated lunchtime.

Some of our middle schools decided to put additional requirements in place. After communication with families and staff, Issaquah, Cougar Mountain and Maywood middle schools decided to implement “off and away” for the whole school day. At Beaver Lake and Pacific Cascade Middle School, devices are “off and away” for the day except for 15 minutes during lunch. Pine Lake is following the expectation as outlined in the regulation.

The district’s regulation was put in place in May of 2025. All district administrators studied Johnathan Heidt’s “Anxious Generation” research or watched “The Social Dilemma” before implementation this school year. District leaders met with PTSA representatives and cohosted a community conversation with PTSA about this regulation and related topics. Superintendent Tow-Yick met with student leaders as well.

Student leaders at the high school level have said that they understand and support the current policy, but do not want to pursue an “away for the day” restriction. Staff members report that “cell phone caddies” have increased student focus on learning, particularly when the phones are out of sight. At the high school level, staff have shared that most of the remaining challenges relate to unapproved use of cell phones in the hallway during class time.

Governor Bob Ferguson recently shared a proposal that would require all schools in the state to have students keep phones put away for the school day. An update on that proposal is expected in the fall.

Board members offered their thoughts and reflections about the regulation and the impacts of cell phones. Director Gallinger asked for a grid or list of information about each school.

 

Superintendent’s Annual Evaluation and Contract

Board members highlighted some of the achievements from the past year, including:

• Passage of three renewal levy measures, including the Levy Advisory Committee, and the informational fact-sharing campaign
• Breaking ground on the New High School project
• Labor regulations and bargaining, including maintaining strong relationships with labor partners while negotiating new agreements
• Portrait of a Graduate work to solidify the acquiring of durable skills, and aligning pathways and the vision for the New High School
• Cabinet cohesiveness and hiring roles including the assistant superintendent and the Chief Information and Technology Officer
• Family engagement, including increased work in community outreach, family liaisons and the district’s Back-to-School Resource Fair
• Navigating challenging budget environment with minimal disruptions to district operations
• Clean financial audits
• Diversity in student experience improvements, and sustained intentionality to hire staff members who reflect the student population

Board members voted to approve Tow-Yick's contract for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029.