Union leader urges district to ease rules on asynchronous professional learning, focus resources near classrooms

Bob Horton, president of the Health Education Association, told the Puyallup School District Board of Directors on July 11 that the district should remove additional approval criteria for asynchronous courses that count toward the 15 hours of individual professional learning in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Horton thanked Interim Superintendent Lasso and staff for prior conversations and compromise but said adding a new approval lens on hours outside the CBA and related guidance is ‘‘concerning.’’ He urged the teaching-and-learning department to stop what he described as ‘‘gatekeeping criteria’’ and instead approve courses that align with the six focus areas in the district’s Curriculum and Vision Agreement (CVA) and the guidance agreed upon on June 17, allowing educators the extended flexibility the CBA provides.

Horton also cited research on assessments, saying classroom-based assessments produce the largest gains for students—‘‘a 0.5 to 1 standard deviation gain for learners with the largest gains for our struggling learners,’’ he said—while districtwide common assessments and statewide or national tests ‘‘have no statistical link to improving student achievement,’’ according to his remarks.

On budgeting, Horton said he anticipated release of the proposed 2025–26 budget on Aug. 4 and requested that resources be placed ‘‘closest to the classroom,’’ including smaller class sizes, appropriate counseling and mental-health resources, and access to learning materials for all students.

Horton’s remarks were delivered during the public comment period; the transcript does not record any immediate board action, staff response, or changes to approval criteria during the meeting.