Investments in Student Voice & Community Partnerships

In response to the disparities precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic in regard connectivity and communications, our communications budget is a flexible set of resources that allow the communications department to develop and implement multi-media communications strategies that continue to ensure consistent connectivity and timely communications about the district with students, families, and community members, regardless of internet or technological access.

To increase access and connection, we will continue our quarterly mailings - our primary contact with those who are not directly connected to our schools - while diversifying our digital methods to include video highlights and updates through our PROMISE e-newsletter. By developing and implementing multi-media communications strategies, and investing in staff to support those strategies, we continue to ensure consistent connectivity and timely communications about the district with students, families, and community members, regardless of internet or technological access at home. The anticipated investment for the 2022-23 School Year is upwards of $340,000. 

• Investment Period: 2021-22 SY;  2022-2023 SY
• Accessing this Resource: This is a district-wide support not available for school-based allocations.
• 2021-22 Impact Data, Communications: ESSER paid for two additional community mailers, which are one of the few opportunities to reach community members who do not have regular contact with our schools. With this support, our tech levy passed by 63%. In addition, 3 videos on Highline's Covid relief dollars were produced (these videos were sent to over 20,000 recipients via PROMISE).

In order to authentically engage student and family voice, the district made the decision to designate a committee to oversee a $4 Million fund for community directed investments. This committee convened in September of 2021 and proposed investments were submitted in January of 2022 for official adoption by the district. Throughout the spring and summer of 2022, the district developed project plans in alignment with the committee's recommendations for execution during the 2022-23 School Year. For more information regarding the adopted proposals and project plans, please see the CARE Webpage here. 

• Initiative Lead: Varies by Project (Budget Authority: Becca Chen)

  • CARE Community Co-Chair: Sally Munoz

  • CARE Leadership Committee: Lolita O’Donnell, Rebekah Kim, Chris Larsen, Jackie Bryan, and Kathryn Peterson

• Investment Period: 2022-2023 SY

• Funded Strategies: 

  • Recommendation #1 - Strengthening Student Supports: The primary recommendation from CARE was that Highline invests in ways that would increase school support for students’ mental and socio-emotional health, and meet their basic needs. Building on the district’s current investments in our team of Family and Community Engagement Specialists and existing professional development for all staff on restorative practices, de-escalation techniques, and culturally responsive practices, CARE recommended the district deepen services to better meet the needs of students from traditionally underserved communities. The district anticipates investing over $1 Million in strategies like mental health partnerships, increased support for teen parents, the implementation of school based wellness centers, and strengthening our SEL and counseling practices. 

  • Recommendation #2 - Aligning Student Supports and Special Education: The second priority for CARE was that Highline invest CARE funds in ways that increase support for families of special education students to participate and understand the IEP process. In consideration of long-term sustainability, these strategies are designed to help build institutional memory around strong family and community engagement practices. The district anticipates investing over $390,000 in hiring two Special Education Family Liaisons, as well as developing district-wide training and translation frameworks to reduce linguistic barriers to the IEP process. 

  • Recommendation #3 - Supporting Students through Play: In alignment with all recommendations, it was increasingly apparent that the district also needed to consider internal resources and tools to support students in improving their socio-emotional and mental health. The third recommendation was that Highline invest in infrastructure improvements to support all students in building relationships, strengthening their socio-emotional skills, and developing life-long habits around mindfulness and play. The district anticipates investing over $2 Million in replacing and upgrading playground equipment and implementing additional staffing and community partnerships that will support students in strengthening their social-emotional skills through play. 

  • Recommendation #4 - Amplifying Student Voice: The final recommendation from CARE was that Highline invest CARE funds in ways that incorporate the voices of all students and provide opportunities for students to share experiences that can drive school decision making and policy. Specifically, CARE recommended that the district resource for the development of a pilot program to support the implementation of a student leadership committee at each school. The district anticipates investing over $100,000 to pay certificated staff who are taking on additional responsibility by chairing their site-based committees and co-leading with both school administration and students. Additionally, this investment provides the resources that will make this leadership opportunity accessible to all students; including but not limited to interpretation support or additional staff time to ensure a student’s accommodations are observed during the committee meetings. 

• Accessing this Resource: These are district-wide supports not available for school-based allocations, with the exception of Recommendation #3, Support Students through Play, which directly supports a number of Elementary Schools.

The pandemic has exacerbated the need for multiple forms of engagement for college and career resources. In a recent student survey, HPS students indicated that their preferred method to engage college and career learning resources is digitally and online. Secondary Success College and Career Readiness, in partnership with the Communications and Family Engagement teams, will collaborate to develop a resources HUB and/or website for families to explore post-secondary resources and High School & Beyond planning materials. This project allows this team to develop videos and print material (non-dated), specific to the HPS experience, that can be utilized for years to come. Content would include post-secondary pathways, introduction to the digital tool Naviance, academic pathways and course selection, financial aid, and more. Families would engage these resources alongside their students to build a foundational understanding of post-secondary options and Highline Public Schools supports for families grades K-12. The anticipated investment for the 2022-23 School Year is roughly $15,000. 

• Investment Period: 2022-2023 SY

• Accessing this Resource: This is a district-wide support not available for school-based allocations.

If we develop the capacity of school and district staff around family and community engagement best practices and honor the expertise of our families and community partners while providing them with critical information about the school system, and schools create the space for families and community to authentically partner, then staff, families and community partners will cultivate relationships built on mutual trust and then staff will implement strong family and community engagement practices in partnership with families and community so that families, community partners, and staff are working together to support students’ academic success.

This initiative supports the expansion of the family engagement specialist role to secondary schools, where the specialists support middle & high schools with implementing effective family engagement strategies in support of afterschool enrichment opportunities (such as extended day).

• Investment Period: 2021-22 SY; 2022-23 SY
• Additional FTE & Staff Support: This investment adds 3.0 Term-Limited FTE to the district to support the solicitation, implementation, and management of our secondary enrichment partners. 
• Accessing this Resource: This is a system-wide support allocated to secondary schools as follows:

Update as of December 2022: One of the Partnership specialists has transitioned, and the position will not be reposted/filled. Instead, the funds previously allocated to support that position will be used to pay existing staff stipends and extra service contracts to ensure those schools and partners continue to receive their existing levels of support. 

• 2021-22 Impact Highlights, Secondary Family and Community Engagement Specialists: This team supported the partners that provide enhanced enrichment/service programming at over 14 school sites. Teachers and parents provided feedback that teacher/family relationships and new opportunities for students to socialize were among the best parts of the 2021-22 school year (Spring Perception Survey Results, 2021-22)

If we develop the capacity of school and district staff around family and community engagement best practices and honor the expertise of our families and community partners while providing them with critical information about the school system, and schools create the space for families and community to authentically partner, then staff, families and community partners will cultivate relationships built on mutual trust and then staff will implement strong family and community engagement practices in partnership with families and community so that families, community partners, and staff are working together to support students’ academic success. This initiative provides supplemental funds to contracted external agencies who provide enrichment services and opportunities in Secondary schools. 

• Investment Period: 2021-22 SY; 2022-2023 SY
• Additional FTE & Staff Support: This initiative pays for 1.0 FTE in a Partnership Manager and an additional $100,000 has been added to the operations and maintenance budget to provide the needed transportation support to these new enrichment programs. 
• Impact Vignette, Spring 2022: Isolation during the pandemic was hard on students' mental health and social-emotional development. We used federal funding to give grants to community partners for providing student enrichment programs. Some of these programs provide academic help, and others offer students in-person, after-school social opportunities in a safe and supportive environment. See the video here to learn more about how Covid Relief Funding is increasing enrichment opportunities at Highline Public Schools
• Accessing this Resource: For the 2022-23 school year, schools had the opportunity to review and select partnerships and programs from the district’s partnership catalog. Highline awarded 10 partners $50,000 each, with each partner serving a minimum of 2 schools.