SOUTH WHIDBEY: SWSD Navigator Newsletter (July 18, 2025)
Prior to every Board Meeting or Workshop, the South Whidbey School District posts a SWSD Navigator Newsletter on ParentSquare providing notice of School Board Meetings, what is happening in the District and updates in the schools. Click here to receive future issues. Ed. Note: We excerpt those portions of the SWSD Navigator pertinent to the activities of the school board. For the full contents of the current edition of the newsletter, click this link.
District Skyward Shut-Down/Rollover July 22, 2025
Skyward Student Side will not be available on Tuesday, July 22nd for the District Year End Close/Rollover Process.
Although students and most staff are not in the buildings during the summer, the district office, custodial, and maintenance staff are working to close out the 24-25 school year and roll-over to the 25-26 school year.
Dr. Becky Clifford, our new superintendent, is meeting with many community groups and staff. She is looking forward to meeting with community members and families so be on the look out for future opportunities to join Coffee with Clifford, starting in late August. In the meantime, she is preparing for a strong start to the school year. Paul Field, Executive Director of Business Operations, is preparing the budget (which is up for public hearing at the July 23rd School Board meeting), managing the bond work, working with our unions for staff contracts, preparing the district to move to InTouch digital payment system, and so much more. Custodians are cleaning rugs and floors amongst many other building tasks. Geoff Lawson, our new Director of Facilities, has jumped right in taking on many tasks including managing the levy work. Geoff, along with the maintenance crew and custodians, are maintaining, cleaning, and preparing the buildings for the new school year (in addition to receiving text books and materials for incoming school year). Payroll, accounting, human resources, communications and so much more continues at the district office.
We’re all working hard this summer to prepare for the new school year!
Board Corner
At the last board workshop, we focused on the budget for the 2025-2026 school year (which was quite the first official meeting for our new superintendent, Dr. Clifford). The district is in a stable position at the moment, and the budget will be a conservative one to ensure that we remain so. We also briefly discussed an extension to the present budget, since the district had more students than planned, and so had both more revenue and more expenses than budgeted. This is a bureaucratic process that just allows the district to spend more than the previously-submitted budget, and has been used several times in the past 10 years. Finally, we worked on a streamlined set of goals for the school board itself.
At the upcoming business meeting, we will vote on the items previously discussed, as well as setting our board calendar of meetings for the upcoming school year.
On Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at 6:30pm, the South Whidbey School Board will have a business meeting and a public hearing on the 2025-2026 proposed budget via ZOOM WEBINAR and IN PERSON at the South Whidbey Elementary School Dr. Julie Hadden Community Board Room at 5380 Maxwelton Road, Langley.
Please click THIS LINK to join the webinar. Passcode: 234129 Webinar ID: 881 5979 3362
Future Meetings:
- August 27: Workshop and Business Meeting
— Brook WIlleford, Board Chair
Operations Update
SWHS/MS Tennis Courts Resurfaced
While bond construction work progresses, so is the levy work! The SWSD maintenance team, under the direction of our new Facilities Director, Geoff Lawson, are busy doing the annual maintenance work around the district. Last week, the SWHS/MS Tennis Courts were resurfaced. The courts are re-opened to the public and are ready for the 25-26 tennis seasons.
Construction Updates
South Whidbey Schools’ summer bond construction work continues. Crews are busy at both campuses.
At the high school middle school campus, last week, the temporary portable classrooms were delivered. Four trucks drove these portables up from Lacey, across Deception Pass, and down to South Whidbey. During the school year, these portables will temporarily host four classes while the classrooms are undergoing construction. Reminder, this is an active construction site with work happening inside and outside the campus. Please stay away from the building and allow the construction workers to do their job safely.
At the elementary school campus, two very old portables were removed. One had been significantly damaged years ago by a flood which made it unfit for students’ use. Both were beyond repair. The summer construction work provided the opportunity to have these two removed.
On the Ballot in November 2025
| SOUTH WHIDBEY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 206 |
|---|
| Director, Position 2 Andrea Downs, the incumbent |
| Director, Position 5, At Large Ann Johnson, the incumbent Gwendy Gabelein |
