Two unexpected speakers added extra drama June 23 to the Highline School Board's regular meeting.

Ayanna Brown, mother of 12-year-old Alajawan Brown who was gunned down in a case of mistaken identity in the Rainier Valley April 29, urged school officials to listen to at-risk students and provide them with activities to keep them out of trouble.

Burien resident Lorin Sandretzky, better known as "Big Lo, Seattle's biggest sports fan," requested district staffers find a better field for the Burien Bearcats youth football team.

Brown also supported the Bearcats' request, noting, "Kids need something to do" to keep them out of gangs.
"A 35-year-old gang member shot my baby," Brown declared.

She also spoke in support of The Movement, a nonprofit Tukwila-based group that works with high-risk youth through mentorship and personal development training.
Big Picture High principal Jeff Petty said the group has worked the past two years at his school "using the power of story to reach out to kids." Big Picture is an alternative high school that emphasizes learning through internships. It is housed at the old Glacier High building in SeaTac.

The group also has worked with 34 "at-risk" Sylvester Middle School students.

Founder and executive director Clarence Presley told board members he wants selected Highline students to attend his group's two week L.I.F.E. (Living in Focus Everyday) Academy training sections so they can become "change agents in their schools."
Sandretzky said kids need grass fields, not "goose poop fields" for football. If given inadequate fields, the kids may "get into drugs like I did."
A former Burien Bearcats player, Sandretzky noted, "I don't want the Bearcats to go to West Seattle like the Sonics went to Oklahoma City."
Later, assistant superintendent Geri Fain said she thought Bearcats' parents were satisfied with the dirt field at Sylvester. She said district grass fields are scarce and added that playing football on grass fields presents maintenance problems. Fain said she would work with the Bearcats to find a solution.
Board members also held a public hearing on the 2010-2011 budget.

A Normandy Park parent said the list of proposed budget cuts varied greatly from cuts suggested in a public survey. She said limiting outside travel scored high on the public's list but seven district staffers are scheduled to attend a California conference.
She also said cutting support for classrooms was near the bottom of the public's list but is included in the proposed budget.

Superintendent John Welch said the travel budget has already been cut and he is monitoring out-of state trips closely.
He said classroom supports were paid for through Initiative 728 state funds that were severely cut by the Legislature. He noted Highline proposes to cut only half the support funds.

Librarians from the Tyee and Evergreen campuses also testified that restrictions on buying new materials would degrade education at the two locations.

Welch also introduced Damon Hunter, who will become an assistant principal at Highline High. Hunter is currently principal at Saghalie Middle School in Federal Way.

Highline High assistant principal Jackie Lewis will become a teacher at a district school to be determined. Lewis, who was also the district's athletic director, was placed on leave following allegations that Jayson Boehm, a substitute Highline Field manager, had given physicals to male students without an appropriate license.

The district has conducted an investigation and independent audit of the district's athletic programs. The district is currently advertising for a coordinator of athletics to replace Lewis.
Board members also authorized a three-year agreement to retain Welch as superintendent through 2013. As with other district employees, Welch' will take two unpaid furlough days in the current school year.