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Former 'Fresh' high-school program draws calls to revive it after district cuts

Tumwater City Council and Tumwater School Board (joint work session) · April 15, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Council and school board members reviewed the history of the Fresh program (a GRuB-style experiential learning site at Isabella Bush Park), noting the city invested about $120,000 in barn repairs and that former participants saw improved attendance and outcomes; members asked staff to explore partners and funding to restore or reconfigure the program.

Council and school board members spent part of the April 14 joint session discussing the history and future of Tumwater’s Fresh program, an experiential high-school pathway that once ran at Isabella Bush Park in partnership with GRuB and the school district.

The parks representative recounted the program’s origins and city investments: "we invested about a $120,000 in the barn," he said, listing roof, siding and upgraded electrical work done when the site was established as an educational farm program.

Former teachers, board members and councilors described Fresh as transformative for students who struggled in traditional classrooms, citing higher attendance and the program’s role in helping some students graduate. "Every single thing that a school district ... look[s] at as success for their students happened through this program," one board member said, urging the district and city to find ways to restore it or reconstitute key elements with new partners.

Board directors acknowledged a difficult district budget picture and said leadership is looking at how to redesign the program to reach more students and spread costs. Ideas raised included recruiting community partners, looking for retired educators to volunteer, regional partners and tenant arrangements that would reduce the financial burden on the district.

Next steps: council asked staff and board members to explore partners and budget options and to return with options that could scale the program to serve more students without overwhelming district resources.