Good evening. I would like to call to order this Anoka Henipin School Board meeting for today, August 24th, 2026. Please join the board in the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Our first order of business is to approve the board agenda. Is there a motion to approve the board agenda as presented? Thank you, co-chair Langenfeld. Do we have a second? >> Thank you, Director Simon. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed say no. With six in favor and zero opposed, the agenda is approved. Members, our next order of business is recognitions. Um, item 4 a NAM Foundation Best Communities for Music Education 2026 Award. I would like to welcome Dr. Annette Ziggler, assistant superintendent for secondary schools, and Ryan Palmer, music teacher at Rapids High School. >> Good evening, co-chairs Hookman and Langfeld, members of the school board, and Superintendent Cole. Tonight, we're proud to recognize one of our band directors in our district from Rabbits High School, Ryan Palmer, whose leadership and dedication to music education have helped our district earn the NAM Foundation's Best Communities for Music Education Award. And Mr. Palmer, congratulations to you and our music teachers for earning this award over many years. I'm going to turn it over to you to give us some more information and details about it. >> Thank you. Uh before I officially get started, I know a few of you were at Rapids on Saturday for the marching band showcase. So, thank you for being there and supporting uh the work that all the students were doing. Good evening, members of the board. Thank you to Assistant Superintendent Ziggler for the invitation to share and celebrate with you tonight. My name is Ryan Palmer and I am the curriculum support teacher for secondary music and I am proud to teach music at Rapids High School. I'm excited to share that for the 12th year now, the In Noa Henipin School District is the recipient of the best communities for music education award presented by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation. This award is designed to recognize and celebrate schools and districts for their support and commitment to music education and their efforts to assure access to music for all students as part of a well-rounded education. This is now the fourth year that I myself have had the privilege of sitting here in front of you uh to share this good news of this award with you. In getting ready for this night, I reflected a lot on what I wanted to talk about. And in the past few years, I've spoken in broad strokes about the state of music education in this district. And tonight, I've decided to share a much smaller, but no less important story. We are now coming up on the third year since the inception of beginning music courses uh in our high schools and counting students enrolled for this fall. The Rapids music department will have connected with over 100 new music students through these beginning courses. And I want to share the story of one of those students. This student, he moved here from out of state uh in middle school. And from what I understand now about this student, he spent his first year in high school barely getting by. Uh with new classes, new teachers, new classmates, and a new home, school was more of an option for this student, not a requirement. And sometime in the spring of his ninth grade year, uh he was encouraged by one of my students who was already enrolled in my music courses, uh to give beginning band a try. So in the fall of his 10th grade year is when I first got to meet this student. Um, beginning band class was his first formal experience with music education, having had no opportunity in his previous district. Um, and the work was hard for him. He struggled through learning the fundamentals, and we tried quite a few different instruments before we found the right fit for him. Uh, he was late in completing his assessments, but he completed them by the end of the trimester. Um, near the end of the trimester, he approached me and asked if he could stay in band for the rest of the year. We worked with his counselor. Um, shout out to the Rapids counseling department. They are amazing. Uh, we worked with this counselor and were were able to make it work in his schedule. And within weeks of him entering the mainstream band class in trimester 2, he was making friends. His attendance improved, his work ethic grew, and he smiled more and more. He found a truly important thing that our young people are searching for. He found community. When we think about this award, the best communities for music education, it's easy to think only about the overall systems of support that are in place. In fact, most of the questions on that application I fill out every year are about that. Um, but tonight, I want to invite us to think a little bit differently, to think about the ways that students find community in our schools and in our programs. Just as we analyze data on why students choose to leave our buildings for alternative experiences, it's equally important to look closely at why they choose to stay. I predict that the best things our students have to say about our schools are said about the communities to which they belong. Their baseball teams, their AP classes, their chess clubs, and of course, their music classes. Noa Henipin is a best community for music education in part because of the safe, loving places that our teachers create. It's also because of the communities that they build within these programs. They teach resilience, patience, and persistence. They teach how to accomplish great things without shortcuts. And they teach what hard work looks and feels like. They teach what it means to listen to the people around us, to hear them, to understand them, to find common ground with them, all while making space for their own voices. These are all skills that our students need. These are skills that will help them to function well throughout their lives. Members of the board and all school administrators present, it is with my deepest gratitude that I thank you for the work that has already been done in support of music education in our schools and in our district. Yet, there is more work still ahead of us. There is a wealth of skill, knowledge, and ability found in your music educators. This award is proof of that. We do this work with enthusiasm, joy, and commitment because music education matters. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you and congratulations. members. The next item on our agenda, item five, is the consent agenda. As normal, members can remove items for separate consideration and discussion if that's their desire. Is there a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Director Duchaine. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> With a second from Director Arco. Any discussion? >> Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Any opposed say no. With six in favor and zero opposed. Our consent agenda is approved. Our next agenda item is item six, the communications and delegation communications, delegations, and petitions section of our meeting. This is time for community members to provide input directly to the school board about issues that fall within the school board's authority. We plan this agenda item for 15 minutes. Our policy allows for the community members to speak for up to five minutes. But if there are several persons that want to speak, then there is discretion to reduce the time commitment to hear from all so and also to keep the meeting on schedule. During times of large community output, we have been flexible in allowing the meeting to run late. Tonight we have 11 cards. To keep the meeting on time, I will ask individuals to keep their comments to two minutes. Speakers, you will be able to reference a time on the screen to manage your comments and a microphone system will be muted at the end of the time allowed. We also welcome written testimony if you have more to say than the time allows. A couple of procedural reminders. Our meeting participation procedures are in place to asssure open and orderly public comments as well as to protect the due process and privacy rights and individuals under the law. If speakers use specific names of students, staff, or board members, I will need to interrupt and or stop the speaker. Please remember to direct your comments to the school board chair. Members of the audience, please listen respectfully. If the board cannot hear speakers, I may reset the timer to allow for speakers to be heard. Audience members that disrupt this portion may be asked to leave for the remainder of the meeting. As mentioned, we have 11 speakers tonight. When I read your name, please come forward and address the school board. To keep our agenda moving along, I will also read the name of the next speaker in line. Our first speaker is John Wallopter with Doug Johnson next. Good evening members of the board and superintendent Cole. My name is John Wall Hopter, president of Anocanapin Education Minnesota. Ano Cananan's motto is a future without limit. Ironically, over the last several years, much discussion at schoolboard meetings has focused on what limits should be p placed on students learning opportunities in social studies. In order to better understand what brought us here, I reviewed the board meetings over the last two years in which social studies was discussed. What becomes apparent is that the goalposts for success in this area have continually shifted. It started with concerns over the new standards. By July of 2021 or 2024, that had shifted to conversations about purchasing textbooks at a meeting where a board member said the books are largely okay. So then the it shifted to looking and reviewing the work of teachers to create UBD curriculum documents with promises that those documents would be reviewed here at this board meeting and approved which has not yet taken place. The board next move to question the entire curriculum adoption process as if changing the process would change the state standards that people disagreed with. the as recently as March the focus shifted to incorporate how research was incorporated into th that process and now tonight the respectful learning environment policy is a part of that conversation. Board members have alluded to specific outcomes that are desired out as an outcome outpoint or outcome of this process. Last August, teachers that presented this table were asked to if they would identify for the board the controversial topics rather than board explaining what they felt the controversial topics were as a board. How is that fair? Finally, the respectful learning environment policy as it stands ensures all students have a place in our classrooms and that needs to continue. The things that brought us to that policy are horrific and the board needs to consider that as we move forward. Thank you for your time. [applause] Doug Johnson. [applause] Doug Johnson. After Doug Johnson will be Sloan Peterson, Superintendent, board members, district staff. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Doug Johnson. My wife and I along with our three children moved to Anoka in December of 2024. Uh I'd like to commend all of you for being willing to serve our community. Um I'm speaking this evening because I believe it is time to add a seventh member to the Inoca Henipin School Board. Adding another seat on the board would broaden discussion, spread the workload across members, and encourage consensus. students and staff of the district need a school board to efficiently and effectively make decisions that benefit most of the residents of the district. An additional board member could create movement toward that goal. I raised this issue because as I've observed the board, I've seen several stalemates, members drawing lines in the sand, and unwillingness to consider other viewpoints. This leads to budgets that are slow to pass and new curriculum that staff have worked on for years aren't approved. This is concerning and frustrating. Board members represent different geographic areas of the district to voice all residents concerns. However, the current makeup of the board is causing me and others, I suspect, to feel that our views aren't considered. For example, many residents support eliminating cell phones from classroom from classrooms. Many residents support beginning to phase out the use of Chromebooks. Many [snorts and clears throat] residents support. Many residents want more social workers available to our students because life is not one-sizefits-all and different people need different kinds of support. This means trusting the experts that work at the district office and in the classrooms. This means being able to see the forest through the trees and make decisions that ensure positive long-term and sustainable improvement throughout the district. So I ask you, what is your vision for this board? Five or 10 years from now, will it still produce three to three votes resulting in non-action? What if the board made news headlines as the largest district in the state that sought out more ideas and perspectives simply through >> Thank you for your time. [applause] >> Next is [applause] Sloan Peterson. After Sloan, we have Nicole Hedman. Welcome. Co-chair, superintendent, and members of the board. My name is Sloan Peterson, and I'm going to seventh grade at Anoka Middle School for the Arts. Before middle school, I attended both Wilson and Nebula. I'm also legally blind, so I read Braille. Over the summer, I was able to participate in my third international braille competition, partly thanks to the excellent education I've received in this district. Today, I'm here to talk about the braille on science at schools. At two of the three schools I've attended, I have found damaged or incorrect braille on signs for bathrooms, offices, and other classrooms. For example, at one of my schools, the girls bathroom was labeled E R O W, which does not indicate girls restroom in any braille abbreviation or any writing. Another example, at a different one of my schools, there was a sign located above the lockers where my teacher could barely reach it. Certainly, most middle school students, especially me, could not reach that sign without help and could not identify that room. It might not seem like one braille dot can make much of a difference, but it's not like the dot on an eye. One braille dot is the difference between day and ever or not and more. As I and other visually impaired students in this district use these signs to navigate, I would greatly appreciate it if these and any other incorrect signs can be fixed. Thank you for your time. [applause] >> Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Nicole Hedman and then Sandra Guy. >> Good evening, school board members and superintendent Cole. My name is Nicole Hedman. Um, as a 45-y year resident of the In Noa Henipin District, an in an NOKA grad, and a parent of three district alumni, my commitment to our schools is both personal and professional. I currently teach Minnesota studies at Northdale Middle School and have served on the Minnesota Studies writing team since 2018. Just last week, I worked with a team to align the Northern Lights third edition with the 2021 standards. I am here tonight to advocate for the formal adoption of this edition. Transitioning to the third edition is a matter of necessity. The Minnesota Historic Historical Society has ceased publication of the second edition which will be the only which will only be supportive through the current school year. Our existing copies are physically deteriorating. Many are missing pages which causes disruption to classroom instruction. Here's an example of our textbook. I have brought six other copies for you to look at. Furthermore, many of the districts across the state have already transitioned to this updated curriculum. I have provided samples um if you want to look at them. To be clear, this update does not change the facts of Minnesota history. Rather, it evolves how we teach it. The third edition retains the high quality content of its predecessor while introducing critical instructional improvements. By utilizing an inquirybased model, it emphasizes the higher order thinking skills that are necessary for students to engage deeply with our state's narrative. I urge the board to approve the purchase of the third edition of Northern Lights. This investment ensures our students will have continual access to durable, highquality, and standards aligned materials that reflect best. >> Thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> Sandra [applause] after Sandra is Kim Hefron Ridel. Hello, my name is Sandra Bergy. I have been um in the in noa school system for I don't even know how many years because you can tell that I'm a senior citizen. I volunteer at several of the Ina Henipin schools and my concern as I've talked to you can see I didn't bring any fancy dancy stuff. Um I'm just speaking from the heart. Um many of the instructors that I have talked to at the schools where I volunteer are um concerned about the treatment of um all students whether they identify you know whatever they identify as that we don't need special um what what word do I want we don't need special treatment for any student because all students are treated equally and respectfully in whatever classroom or class situation they are in. I have a great niece who is being groomed um to be in the the LGBTQ plus um even though she's not. um she just thinks it's cool to be a they um she's eight years old and I just want to let the school board know and let the the district know that all students, it doesn't matter what they identify as, they are all treated equally. Whether it's in the classroom, whether it's in the lunchroom, which is where most of my time is spent. Um special accommodations I don't feel are necessary. They they're all the same. God created us all the same. And I just hope that the school board will continue to understand that all kids are the same. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, Kim Hefron Ritzel. After Kim is Carrie Bondi, good evening. Um um board members um chair, superintendent, my name is Kim Hefron Ritzel. My husband and I moved um to the Noah Henipin School District into this community over 25 years ago. [snorts] Excuse me. Um we have two children. One who has graduated from Anoka High School. um who graduated 5 years ago, another who will be entering her senior year at Anoka High School this year. Um and um I first of all want to thank all of you for it's my understanding your openness to adopt a new social studies curriculum um and that's really appreciated um to meet state standards. Um, and then also, um, as a not only a parent in the district, but I'm also, um, a licensed psychologist, um, and I have a private practice in, um, Andover. And, um, I just have concern for, um, the impact that, um, may come to students if, um, there's any rush to any revising of the 604.4 policy. Um, so if that is to um be something that is considered, I really want to encourage all of you to take your time and put thought into it. Um, my daughter, my uh who's a senior in high school or will be a senior. Um, she has friends who um have parents who are not very available. She has friends who are already suicidal. she has friends who um cannot afford um um to go into therapy and get support. And so any additional stress or anything that comes from school um uh could potentially end up setting us back and negatively impacting students. So I really want to encourage all of you to put thought into that. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] Carrie Bondi and then Kristen Brman. Good evening, Superintendent Cole and fellow board members. My name is Carrie Bondi and I am the parent of an incoming Oxbow kindergartener and the wife of an Noa Henipin teacher. While I'm very excited for my daughter to start public school this fall, I'm also really anxious. Not only because she's my first child to start school, and that's always a scary transition, but because our district school board appears unable to move forward with funding and policies that will set our students up for success. With another budget deficit already expected at the end of this school year and additional cuts coming from the state and federal level and no referendum in sight, I am concerned about what this is going to mean for my family. This is going to impact us in multiple ways. salary and benefits and workload for my husband and the quality and competitiveness of the education that my daughter receives. In addition to that, it's deeply troubling that the sixth grade social studies textbook has been tied to modification of the policy regarding respectful learning environments. This policy already requires teachers to present materials without bias while respecting the lived experiences, self-worth, and identity of all students. What in this policy needs to be modified? The actions of this board continue to demonstrate that they are not putting the needs of students first. According to the Minnesota Schoolboards Association, your role as schoolboard members in relation to the community is to plan for both the present and future educational needs of the school district and the community and to attempt to obtain adequate financial support for the school district's programs while striving to uphold responsibilities and accountabilities to the taxpayers in the district. At this time, it appears you are doing neither. So I ask you as a parent, how are you going to maintain the quality and integrity of our students education? How will you continue to recruit and retain teachers when they are lacking curriculum materials and the ability to support their students in proactive ways? How do you plan to ensure that our students get the education that they deserve? I ask that you go forward with absolute transparency so that you can be accountable to the community. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. [applause] >> Thank you for your time. Bman and then Alison. Hello board members and Superintendent Cole. Uh my name is Kristen Broman. Uh I've lived in Andover since 2009. Uh that year started an epidemic of child suicides. That was the year that grown adults decided that a few human lives were worth their freedom to bully children. By the time I got married in 2011, I told my husband that we would never allow our future children to enter into an NOA Henipin public schools unless major reforms happened. I refused to allow my kids to be a bargaining chip for adults that would use them to push an agenda. And now here I sit 17 years later and this board is tempting fate by even talking about going backwards. The anger I feel over having to speak today is nothing compared to what I will feel if anything is done to weaken the respectful learning environment policy. This board's mission is to provide safe, inclusive, and high quality learning environments for all students as per your guidelines. If this board would even think to mess with that policy while kids' lives are on the line, then you have failed in your mission. And if changing this policy is fulfilling your mission, then you have no business making policy or approving curriculum for over 38,000 children. Tying this policy to approving Minnesota history curriculum is such an interesting choice because maybe one day, 17 years from now, we will read about the school board members who chose not to protect all children. We cannot infringe on our children's rights to feel safe and protected in school. One of life's greatest tragedies is that children inherit the mistakes of their elders. Each one of you gets to decide if you want to be the mistake or the example. Thank you. Thank you for your time. [applause] Alison Marman [applause] and then Emily. Allison Marman. Good evening. I'm just trying to understand why there is discussion to modify this policy 604.4. Hoping to understand what problem we are trying to solve. Students deserve to feel safe and to learn in an unbiased, respectful environment. Those goals appear to be covered by this current policy. Over the last 14 years, we've made progress toward creating a learning environment where students can feel safe, respected, and supported. and there's certainly still work to do. So, I'm trying not to assume that this modifying this policy would be a step backward. I'm concerned that modifying a policy that's been in place for 14 years is even being considered, especially as it appears to be linked as a bargaining chip for curriculum decisions. We know what this district experienced before this policy was adopted, and that history matters. It reminds us why creating safe, respectful, and supporting learning environments for students is so important. We have a responsibility to maintain that progress and continue strengthening the support available to students today. That support requires resources. We need therapists, social workers, teachers, interventionists, and support staff. We need them to build relationships with students and help them when they are struggling. Those things cost money. Parents for Good has already asked the school board to put a levy on the ballot. We wanted voters to be able to decide whether to increase funding and that request was denied. Our district is also anticipating additional budget cuts on the state and federal level. So, I'd like to know what is the school board's plan? We need to maintain and strengthen the support our students need. I'm concerned about seeing a discussion of modifying this policy before we change something intended to help create a safe and respectful learning environment. I believe we need to be clear about what problem we're trying to solve. Your responsibility is to protect our students, the students you serve, and make sure that they have an environment where they can learn and thrive. Thank you. Thank you for your time, [applause] Emily Muhar. and then Millie McCall, co-chairs, member of the board, and Superintendent Cole. My name is Emily Neworth. My husband and our two kids, and I live in Rapids. Uh first of all, congratulations, Superintendent Cole, on your new role. I'm looking forward to seeing how you bring uh your new skills or your skills to this new capacity in the district. So, congrats. Uh second of all, I want to address our lack of an approved elementary school uh social studies curriculum. My understanding is that the board has had over five years to re review and approve a pilot curriculum. Uh I attended the curriculum event this past April when I was about 39 weeks pregnant uh with this baby that you see here. So it's been a while. Um curriculum experts from all over the country flew in to present and answer questions. Community members, including myself, provided feedback and teachers attended to pre uh preview the curriculum. And yet, the board has failed to approve a curriculum. This board has failed to discuss this topic all summer or have it on the agenda for several months. Uh this board is failing our students and teachers by not approving a curriculum. And we cannot wait for perfection because if we did, we would never make progress. and failing to provide resources for our students and our teachers is a failure to create a sustainable learning environment. Put our students first. Honor the time that the district staff, the teachers, the community members, and you yourselves have devoted to this topic. Please approve an elementary school social studies curriculum as promptly as you can. Thank you. Thank you for your time. [applause] Millie [clears throat] board superintendent in our community. My name is Millie McCauler. I would first like to speak to the lovely community that we have here and those online. Um, your feelings are valid and you are heard and supported by your community. Your anger, fear, confusion, it is all valid and is all understandable. So, I want to start with something that should concern all of us. Um, regardless of where we stand on this policy. The public should never have to piece together what their school board is doing from rumors, social media posts, and public comment. If this board is considering changing a policy that directly affects how our educators interact with our students, our community deserves to know exactly what is being proposed, why it is being proposed, and what the problem it is intended to solve. I'm a former Anoka Henipin student and now a coach. I work with students who are learning how to think critically, challenge ideas, and navigate disagreement every single day. I believe deeply in giving students room to ask difficult questions and encounter ideas they don't agree with. I also believe adults have the responsibility to make sure students are never left wondering whether their basic dignity is conditional. Our students are not hypothetical. They walk into classrooms carrying things we may never know about. And when a student raises their hand and asks, "Does this mean people like me?" The answer should not depend on how cautiously a teacher interprets a vaguely written policy. When we change a policy with this much history and potential impact, as one we've been discussing, transparency should come before implication and should not be attached to the decision of ordering textbooks our students need to be successful. So, as a coach, here's how I would coach you to move forward given the stakes. Show your work. Show the community the language. Explain. Let educators understand how it changes. Let us ask questions and let this community participate in the decision. >> The people, >> thank you for your time. >> Are the people who live decision the longest. [applause] Our next agenda item, item seven, board calendar and district update. Superintendent Cole. Thank you, Co-Chair Hulkman, members of the board. Uh, tonight I'll be presenting some items of interest for the board and community regarding activities and events that uh, we are proud of in our district. And we do this to celebrate students, staff, community members who are contributing to the accomplishments of our mission, which is to effectively educate each of our students for success. Uh first day of school for the 2627 school year is Tuesday, September 8th. It's a bit later than normal. Uh students will begin a phased approach with uh students in grades 1 through 5, 6, 9, and seventh grade students at Anoka Middle School for the Arts all attending. Kindergarten students will also begin in a phased approach throughout the week. Uh neighbors will see increased activities at school sites with openhouse events held on Tuesday, September 1st and Wednesday, September 2nd. Visit our back tochool website at ahschools. us backbts for back tochool for additional information and resources to help families and students prepare for the school year, which is fast approaching. Uh fall high school activities are up and operating across our school district. Anoka Henipin offers a full slate of options including dance line, marching band, cheer, cross country, soccer, volleyball, football, and tennis. Additional activities and clubs are offered with the start of the school year. Students and parents are encouraged to reach out to the activity director or administrator at their high school or middle school to find out more about registration process as well as future opportunities. Also, this is a reminder that tickets to events are digital and available through the school website under the activities tab. The district has changed ticketing platforms this year from the Go Fan plat platform to a system called Bound. This system also features a mobile app to provide easy access to tickets. Uh football starts up the next week, Thursday, September 3rd. These are our most uh highly attended events. Also, we typically have dance line and marching bands at those events. Uh Andover will be hosting Weisetta High School. Eden Prairie will be at Anoka High School. Rapids hosts AIO. Blaine will be traveling south to Lakeville North. And Champlain Park will be visiting St. Michael Albertville. So if you get an opportunity, check out those events. Uh the Anoka Henipin area will be hosting a state meet this year. The Minnesota State High School League will move the boys and girls state cross country meet within our Anoka Henipin borders. Majestic Oaks Golf Course in Ham Lake is the new site for the meet which is set for Saturday, November 7th. The closure of the University of Minnesota golf course was the primary reason for the relocation. Student in interest in world languages is alive and well in Anoka Henipin. This year alone, a record 540 students earned up to four college credits through testing their reading, writing, and listening skills in a language other than English. Of that total, 95 students earned the more rigorous gold bilingual seal and 64 earned the platinum seal, which is the highest level. In total, 1,630 semesters of college credit were earned in six languages, including American Sign Language, Arabic, French, German, Russian, and Spanish. An optional technology tool is now available for the district families to help control internet access on district devices at home and away from school. Go Guardian Parent allows parents and guardians to review their students browsing history, block specific websites, pause internet access on demand, and scheduled times to pause internet access during out of school hours. This service is provided at no cost and the details were sent to families today in the back to school focus e newswsletter which was sent to all of our families. Along those same lines, internet safety and artificial intelligence are emerging issues both in society and in schools. And Anoka Henipin is taking a proactive stance to stance to protect students and family private data trusted in our care. The district has selected Google Gemini as an authorized artificial intelligence platform for students and staff. The product both complies with data priv privacy laws which is very important. uh use also ensures student and school inputs are kept private and not used to train public AI models. As part of this plan, the district will be filtering out other artificial intelligence platforms from devices and networks to ensure data security. And then finally, just want to give a shout out uh to our new district enrollment center. We hosted a ribbon cut cutting this evening previous to our board meeting. Uh we had board members who were able to attend which we appreciate very much as well as uh co-chairs Hookman and Langenfeld um as you see there uh cutting the ribbon with our large uh cool scissors. Uh so it was a it was a great event. This new resource is located in an NOA at the educational services center. This is a one-stop shop for new families and enrolles. uh board members and the community will remember our closure of the Rapids Family Mall as a budget savings and the introduction of this new facility to better serve families at a more affordable and sustainable cost. Uh this truly is a it's a beautiful center. Um it's a much more welcoming center and it provides wraparound services to our families who really need that additional support and help. So pretty excited about it. Um and excited for the future. And that concludes my superintendent's report for today. >> Board members, are there any questions for our superintendent? >> Okay. Thank you, Superintendent Cole. Our next agenda item is elementary and secondary education item 8A, Northern Lights, third edition for grade six Minnesota studies. Welcome Sarah Hunter, chief academic officer. Can I just say a few things? >> Thank you. >> So, I just want to make a statement before uh Sarah has an opportunity to share some options with you regard to our sixth grade curriculum. Um, and I I'm going to take full ownership for this uh just in terms of some of the comments made tonight and uh concerns that have been expressed. Uh the intention of including policy 604.4 four on the sixth grade curriculum materials options you'll hear tonight is to consider evaluation of the policy so that it ensures it provides further clarity to staff as they teach topics that are likely to lend themselves to controversy. The intention if it were to be changed would be to provide clarity for teaching Minnesota standards and giving space for multiple perspectives. There is no intention to return to the neutrality policy that existed more than 14 years ago. I just want to be clear as someone who is personally involved heavily with the US Department of Justice uh in the consent decree with the Anoka Henipin School District in a role that I held uh back then for 13 years. Um I was also someone who spent a lot of time with the US Department of Justice attorneys. So I want you to know that I would not support a return to the wording of that old neutrality policy for a number of reasons. This discussion today is unrelated to that situation more than 14 years ago. Any connection made between the old neutrality policy and the current potential review of an existing policy 604.4 is non-existent there. The two are not intended to be related in any way. There is no connection nor should anyone read that into this potential option for the sixth grade social studies course or any other course for that matter. It has been presented as an idea to create a path forward curriculum for curriculum materials approval in the future. That does not mean it's an idea the school board may choose to pursue. It's an option intended to support students, staff, and the exchange of perspectives. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, uh, Co-Chair Hookman, Superintendent Cole, members of the board, and members of the public. Um, I'm Sarah Hunter. um chief academic officer and I have the privilege of first sharing um the context around some of the work that our educators have done this summer to prepare us um to be ready for the fall. Um so tonight I'll be speaking really briefly about um the work that's been done this summer by a writing team. Um but first the context around sixth grade uh Minnesota studies. We currently use uh the Northern Lights second edition in our classrooms. We've used it for more than 10 years. Um and it was specifically designed for Minnesota studies and Minnesota standards as we're the only state um that holds that course as a part of our curriculum. Um the third edition was identified by our curriculum adoption team um as the recommended resource. Um there isn't a comparable Minnesota specific alternative and our current subscription to um Minnesota the um the curriculum um second edition uh expires at the end of June 2027 which is when we would lose access to the second edition. Uh work that was completed this summer um was teachers did actually receive digital access on August 10th. That's because it's it is a part of the online curriculum. We have the second edition. The third edition is just paired with it in the same platform. Uh curriculum writing team uh met from August 10th to 14th to develop pacing guides and unit plans that are aligned to the new standards um similar to the work that was done by um teachers in K5 and 712. Um but in this case with the potentially adopted new resource um the other grades were needing to build resources based on on old curricular materials. um a team member uh a member of that team attended a workshop put on by the Minnesota Historical Society um and then share shared her learning with the rest of the writers in order to make sure they had context around the new addition um the changes and then they aligned standards to curriculum to instructional resources um in the event that the board were to adopt the third edition. where we are right now um is we need um the board to make a decision around whether or not we are moving forward with um version three. Um in the event that um that is the decision, we would uh present professional learning for our teachers on September 2nd, the sixth grade teachers that would include um the updates to the updated um curriculum maps for the third edition. In the event that we don't uh move forward with the third edition, we would need to do curriculum writing between now and the second in order to support uh teachers in integrating the new standards um with the old text. Um so I think um Superintendent Cole mentioned the three options that were in the board brief um are sort of a sort of a spectrum of potential decisions. So I'll frame those options. Um the first option would be to approve the Northern Lights third edition this evening. Um with the concurrent um potential edits that again would be a separate process that the board would pick up um that would be through through your governance process for changing policy and our teachers would begin the year with the new resource. Option two, um we would need to continue with the second edition resource. Again, that would mean some curriculum writing that would need to occur right away um between now and the second so that teachers would be prepared to integrate the new standards. Um and the third is um I think a you know sort of a combination of the two in the event that the board wanted to move forward with a different option based on your discussion this evening. From an instructional perspective, my team uh and I will make sure that we're prepared um to address the state standards as the school year starts. Um and what we need is direction from the board about the resource that we will be using. Thank you for the time. >> Thank you. Uh board members, are there any questions for the presenter regarding the different options? if not members before us. Coach Langfeld, >> first of all, thank you and your team for all of your hard work up to this point. From a clarity perspective, we intend to have the new standards as part of our fall curriculum. Accurate or no? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. So in order to meet those standards, the team has been writing um those four days, doing all the pacing pacing guides to align with the recognition that um you have the third edition. Every every social studies teacher in sixth grade has access to online, not in hand. In fact, not I don't know that the third edition in hand is anywhere. I mean, there are circumstances here that are a little less than ideal in terms of typical curriculum adoption. So, the pacing guides are in place. The teachers have access and have since August 10th. And right now, the UBDs are written as well. And when I looked and did some homework here, I could clearly see that that the the book that we saw tonight was a 2013. >> Correct. >> And as a resource, even we have access online, but it doesn't include the standards. Correct. So just from a clarity purp >> correct, it would is not aligned to the 2021 standards. So if we needed it to be, we would have to write those. >> And one of the one of the primary we see we have five. I'm just I need this for clarity too. We have five strands >> includes history, civics or citizen citizenship and government, economics, ethnic studies and geography. >> Within that the new piece that wasn't in the previous is ethnic standards. Is that correct? Okay. Or ethnic studies. And when I look at the total number of benchmarks, if I'm not mistaken, we have 41% of the benchmarks in history. And in civics, we have about 18% of the benchmarks. Economics and um uh economics is similar. Economics and ethnic studies is um five benchmarks or four benchmarks and three standards total. and then geography. And the reason I point this out is that even without the ethnic studies, 85% of the book is history, civics and and economics and geography. Correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. So the book if e, you know, the ethnic standards would be or studies would be just a portion of that and woven in. So as I'm thinking about this and and looking from my discernment lens that I like to look through thinking about while the situation is not ideal um we are ready to go the first trimester correct with what we have with the online versions and the student version is also available. We are ready to go give dep pending board action >> depending. Okay. So then I think one of the pieces that I would ask our board to talk very seriously about tonight is a complete plan of when we are going to do this work. um if in fact um we agreed uh last spring I believe if not a while even prior to that that when we purchase any kind of curriculum we would do um a a second step which would include the UVDs. So if we were to purchase this we would have to have that second step as we agreed to. Correct. >> And then it would give teachers time to do more in-depth writing, reviewing, and so forth that you typically would do in the summer. Correct. And then you would be able to uh trimester um roll it out with the book in hand for kids. Is that is that realistic or talk to us about what that would look like from a realistic timeline? Um, are you referring to rolling it out in second trimester instead of first trimester? >> Well, I we have to do the second step if we purchase the book. So, I that's what I'm asking. >> Bring it. So, I think you're speaking to bringing UBDs back for review by the board because it would be a new textbook >> once we have the new textbook. >> Yep. So, we would be ready to do that at any time >> as soon as >> any time that the board would would have time on the agenda to review them. Okay. Yeah. So, and when I think of the 2013 book, I think of my 2013 vehicle. And um people don't typically drive the 2013 vehicles right now, right? I also think about the fact that a lot has changed since I purchased that and a lot has changed for our students. And um I I personally um have great problems with not moving forward with a plan. Um, and I do that from a lens of educator, a lens of the recognition that each child deserves the very best we can bring forward. Would be different if we didn't budget for it and have budget for it. And I think the other piece I have personal skin in this game too because I have children, grandchildren who deserve to have this opportunity. So, um, I would like our board to talk very seriously about if and when we can get this done because we've waited a very long time. >> Director Adette, >> I'd like to make two clarifications. Uh the first is that this board did not uh at any point authorize the school district to teach uh the the new social studies standards as drafted by the state that we did not do that. And the second is we also did not direct the curriculum department to write new curriculum for those standards or to search for new curriculum. So uh those are two important facts that did not happen. Director Arco. >> Thank [cough and clears throat] Thank you, Coach Hookman. Um, I just want to follow up on what you said, Coach Langenfeld. So, it's true that it has been many years and we have not adopted curriculum, but it certainly is not for lack of trying. But unfortunately, it seems it is for lack of conversation because as some people may have mentioned or pointed out, I did mention on social media that I did make a good faith effort not so long ago to show at least what compliance I believe exists for what we have. Um, what what currently is, including the standards in discussion right now. Not a single board member, including yourself, has had a conversation. We've talked about talking about the standards, but we we haven't actually had the discussion about the standards. So, you can say it's because of a lack of conversation, but you can't say that's because I've refused to conversate. I've made I've made the effort. I received nothing in return. Second thing, and so this is for the sake of the public having a better understanding of this. Um the state of Minnesota gives broad discretion to school districts to on how they're how they can choose to meet benchmarks and standards. Um point in case there are over 300 school districts in the state of Minnesota and not a single one of them if you were to walk into any given class social studies classroom on any given day will be teaching exactly the same material as any other district. So there's at least over 300 different ways we could possibly meet these benchmarks. So, the reason I point this out is because the a lot of the the narrative that I believe people hear and understand is this idea that there's like the standards and we have to pass the curriculum as though there's only one option. And to once again illustrate that that simply isn't the case, I went ahead and did the work of curriculum writers um without being one of them, without being an expert as they are, without the salary, and without the time. And so I went ahead I'll I'll give you a brief preview into what I did here specifically for this class to to show that we actually don't need the book in question. I went through every single benchmark as you were discussing. There are many of them director Langenfeld and I found specifically only publicly available sources on the internet. Credible sources mind you. Let me list several of them. Uh the city of Minneapolis land use handbook was very useful for one benchmark. Um Minnesota House of Representatives 40th meeting just various content on bills they were going to pass. Again useful for another benchmark requiring us to talk about various political actions that were taken. State of Minnesota Constitution the the um Chipawette treaty 1854. There's a whole manual on it and a lot of information from Minipedia which is created by the Minnesota Historical Society. So I I don't think there's anyone who would disagree that any of these are reputable sources. The reason I point this out is because in this document I threw together um well perhaps it's more important to say this. If you thought that with the original analysis I did maybe those standards if you thought to yourself maybe they wouldn't quite meet what we need to do. Well, that's that's the discussion, right? But it never occurred. But specifically for that first analysis I did, I was limited to only the existing documents that we already use in the district. for this analysis. Well, the sky's is the limit. We live in the age of the internet where almost the entire breadth of human knowledge is somewhere online in one form or another and we can access quite literally any of it. And so any any hard time I may have had proving that we're meeting some of the benchmarks of the first analysis, although I certainly did, that was not the case this time. It was quite simple to meet every single one of the benchmarks with only credible sources, all publicly available. And so the reason that I'm saying this is not to say that we should or shouldn't have that textbook. It's simply to say that there is countless ways that we can meet the standards. And the reason that these I find these these conversations in a general sense to be so dishonest and so misleading is it they always seem to imply that there's just the way to do it. We have to pass the standards that are written because there's simply no other option. Here's another option right here, guys. There's nothing stopping us from doing it. And one, and this is not facitious, by the way. Please, I'll send it to you as I did the other one. Take a look. Again, it's just content from the internet. You can find it all all credible sources. And it'll save us money on the textbook. So once again, if we care about the budget, which everybody claims to, I'm just not certain why we would want to purchase a admittedly politically divisive textbook that we're going to have to put certain safeguards around, spend money on it when we can draft all the content for free as I just did. So, I think the entire conversation is incredibly dishonest because it portrays that seemingly although no one states this directly, but it implies that there's only one option or there's the option. And then you also implied that we haven't talked about it. Well, I've been trying to talk about it and suddenly, and this was the key shift, suddenly when I was in the driver's seat and none of you were, now there's no interest in having the conversation anymore. Suddenly, when it was here's the curriculum according to director Arco, what do you think? Suddenly there is no one that had anything to say about it. And so that shift in power dynamic I think is that that's speaks to why there were so many calls for conversation before now. But then suddenly when I actually have the proof with citations and references and content suddenly nobody wants to talk because now it's not going to be your preferred way of doing it. You're going to have to collaborate which is what we've all said we wanted to do the whole time. Right. Well there's your option guys. It's waiting for you and I'm still waiting to have those conversations. Coach Langanger, >> as I think about this conversation right now, it is intended to at least my intent um certainly was to be as honest as I could be. Um as a as an educator of 30 plus years, I I find myself in a place where I think about um what what you shared is I can't dispute it because I've not seen it, but I would offer that um writing curriculum in the Minnesota Historical Society that put together the history of Minnesota and whatnot. Um was done obviously with care and it was done by professionals who know what they're doing and putting the resources together. Um having done my own searches for resources as an educator, it takes a tremendous amount of time. Um, if we are going to be held accountable as a board and hold our staff accountable, we need to have resources that we all have the same resource. If if I'm not mistaken, I think it's very important transparency for our parents as well. But I also think that that having these kinds of conversations are very important um because we each have different perspectives. Respectfully, I I respect other people's perspectives and I would offer that yes, there are many ways to approach this. There's not just one way and typically we do have a lot of choice in the books that we look at and so forth. This is a unique situation. It's not ideal. We as a board have not seen the book. That's not ideal. So, that's why I'm looking for ideas as to how we can get where we need to be. And I appreciate that that's your idea that we can just source our own and not buy the book. Is that would that be accurate? Am I interpreting that accurately? >> Okay. So, and so our students would not have a book. We would because we know we saw what the books look like. Correct. Thank you. Director Duchaine, >> thank you. Um, I just want to start by saying like I support moving forward with new social studies materials. I've supported that for years since we had the original discussions and original plan and pathway for all social studies courses, grade levels, and classes to receive due care and attention from our dedicated district staff. um curriculum writers, teachers, uh all of those folks that could strategically implement and enfor that that work through a timeline that is respectful of how much uh dedication and effort it takes to do that work. I think that um Director Arco, the analysis that you are presenting isn't board work. that is your own way of trying to understand the material and the information ahead of us and that is okay for you to do that. Um it is not um an invitation to collaborate when you surprise the board with that information at a board meeting and then send an email afterwards with with no follow-up or or continued action. Um, I think that it is disrespectful to our students to uh put ourselves as board members in the position of curriculum writers when we have a a team and staff and dedicated teachers that that are qualified and committed to doing that work. Um, that that is the way we should bring about these discussions. We of course as board members should surface ideas. we should share input, offer suggestions, uh collaborate with each other and with our district staff. Um I think there could be a way to do that. Um that that does invite the discussion that you seem to uh want to have. I don't think it's a complicated ask for us today with Minnesota studies ahead of us. We've heard very clearly that it is the textbook that we've been using for 12 years. the current materials are in bad condition and our online access will be ending soon. We need to make sure our teachers have what they need to teach and our students have what they need to learn. Um we should be working together with our district academic experts to use and choose those materials that will best support student learning. Um the copy of the book that we saw at public comment is is so interesting to me. Um and I just want to share something that I saw firsthand uh in February of last uh well of this year but in February I was at an afterchool activity hosted at one of our middle schools. I was in a sixth grade classroom uh to watch my kids team uh do their activity. That classroom is used daily by students. So, their textbooks were left under their desks in the little metal tray that sits under our our chair and desk combo. Every copy that I could see were genuinely falling apart. The the covers were detached, loose pages, years of visible wear. Um, and I want to be clear, not every textbook in our district looks like that. And I'm not suggesting that that classroom is representative of all of them. But, as we saw today, it's it's many of them. And it doesn't really need to be representative to make the point. We shouldn't have to be asking like, well, how many of our books look like that? Do we have good enough materials we should just keep using? It's should any of our materials look like this? Should should any of our students have to learn in an environment where we're cobbling together only public source uh websites without a cohesive plan, asking our teachers to take on the immense workload of putting that all together in a package that gives our students the education they deserve. They only they only get to do it once, right? Students only get K12 one time. I don't think we're serving them as a board by continuing to delay these decisions and not giving them the very best that we can with the budgets that we've already accounted for um and the work that our staff has already put in place. >> Director Arco >> to respond to several up your comments. Thank you for the continued discussion. So you you open by saying that you you do want to adopt social studies curriculum and I agree I want to do that as well. The the issue though or the rather not the issue, the question for all of us to work through is but how do we do that? That literally is the question. And so the approach that you and other board members have taken since I've been on the board is I'll just call it the trust the experts approach which there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Like certainly it is their job to write curriculum. But if there are one or more board members or in this case half the board which you require at least one of them to get a majority who want to yeah let the experts do their job but also want to have input then we have to do that right like like it's we I'm not I want to adopt the curriculum you want to to adopt the curriculum but we have to find a way to do that together. It can't just be your way or the highway or my way or the highway. So the reason I did this is not to say that this is the only way that we can adopt the curriculum. It's to show you that this is where the discussion begins, not where it ends. And so when you say that I surprise you board meetings, okay, yeah, sure, with this, but the other one, you've had two months to respond. I haven't gotten a response. And so there's your opportunity to collaborate. Never happened. And so I I think in my from my vantage point, the the thing that I think I'm seeing is that we've done the trust the experts approach for so long that now that you have a board member who has essentially demonstrated he can do the experts jobs for them. I don't think there's anyone anyone who has a response to that at this point other than to just dismiss it or go back to but we have to let them do it. We just have to accept what they offer us. I don't think that's the case as I've proven many times over and have not gotten a response. And if good faith discussions were desired, there have been months to have them and it hasn't occurred. Superintendent, >> I just want to make sure all board members know um and we've talked, Zach, that we would definitely invite board members to come in and have those conversations um and and we can set that up and make sure that, you know, we can we can vet that completely um to keep that dialogue going. So, um you know, I hope that that invitation is open and not just an invitation. I think it's a let's set something up if if that's the case for anybody who's interested to continue those conversations if there's any information sharing that would help move this forward. >> Director Simon, >> thanks Linda. Um so I just wanted to start out first by saying thank you to Sarah and we have some of our social studies great social studies teams in the audience too. So um thank you for all your work on this. Um I It's not been easy. And um um I definitely I've said this before um that I rely upon you and trust you. Um, and it I don't think it's a blind trust because um, I've read the UBDS. Um, I've spoken with you. Um, and you've presented at the board and showed that um, in an Oka Henipin um, regardless of what the standards are, our leaders and our teachers are not creating curriculum to indoctrinate kids. So, you've proven that. So, it's kind of a trust and verify, right? in this board actually uh I think in initially got to a compromise where it was um again trust and verified let our experts write the curriculum but all UBDs come back to the board before they're implemented. So we did go down that road a little bit. I don't think it's been successful but at least in my opinion but um we did try to go down that road a little bit. Um, and I think what I think what I take and what I think the community can take and um, all the work that um, Director Arco did on looking at our our current standards, right, um, on social studies and how they match up. Um, and if I'm misquing you, please say so. I don't mean I'm not trying to misquote. Um, but I think you said in general you didn't see a lot of controversy in there like indoctrination. I believe you said that when you originally did it. If I'm wrong, please correct it. But I think that shows the community and this board that even before this current board had the problem with social studies that we're having, our folks that some actually said the staff that created some of those or some of the leaders were indoctrinating kids. Well, it didn't get into our curriculum. So, I I think that actually maybe gives a little more proof and um at least makes me feel like my trust is well placed. um specific on policy 604.4. Um I think Superintendent Cole said this, but I just want to make sure and correct me if I'm wrong, Superintendent Cole, but um just so the public knows, in my understanding, this this was not brought about by a board member asking for this. This was an administrative potential solution to get to a to a solution in this. So, um it sounded like some of the comments tonight were, you know, um some on the board or the full board wants to change the policy. I don't believe that that was the initial discussion. Is that correct? So, just so the public knows that was not correct and I'm I apologize that um we'll have to we have to look at our communication and make sure that um we're we're right on that so that type of message never gets out. Um, so I wanted to put that out there. Um, I do think that um, so so I'm not I'm open to talking about policy 604.4. I I reread it again and again before this meeting. I think it's very strong. I don't think it needs revision, but I'll be open to listening to whatever people say. But on option one and two, um I would lean right now before those discussions to say I I don't think that policy needs to be changed. If you know we have policy and then we have um direction if you will directional documents along with policy. If this board and administration thinks something specifically needs to be said for Minnesota studies or social studies I think that might be a better avenue to go because when you when you change a policy in my my uh experience when you change a policy to something really specific that policy doesn't live as long. So maybe it's a directional document if we want to entertain that. I'm not interested in it, but I'm open to talking about it. So my um my preference would be because um I do think our teachers and our leaders write curriculum regardless of the Minnesota uh standards that will not act to indoctrinate kids. Um my preference is that we buy this book and um again that two-step process let the UBDs come back to the board to look at confirm and verify that that's not happening which I'm confident it's not and not um and not tie 604.4 to that. So that'd be my preference. Um I don't think that's going to happen but I wanted the board to know what it was. So thanks >> director. Thanks. Um, just wanted to comment what I think has been missing all along and it's the difficult thing is the board given the nature of these standards the board has to figure out a way to provide a set of it could be what you're talking about Mr. Simon direction uh guidance for the way the school board wants to have these controversial standards implemented and taught in our schools. And so the multiple attempts that have been made to write which again in in some cases were maybe asked for at some level by the school board although in my opinion I don't think it it ever has been because we haven't got to the point yet of being able to do that. So, some have suggested that the writing must happen. Uh, and so therefore, it's going to happen, but it didn't happen at the behest of the board asking for it to happen because we aren't ready to ask for it to be happen because we haven't been able to provide that direction and the guidance on behalf of the board for that work to happen. And I do think it's possible for us to create specific set of whatever you want to call it policy or guidance or direction uh that could be compromised on to say in the handling of these standards this is what the how the board wants to see it done and most likely neither side if you will get what they want. Uh, I personally would throw the new standards in the garbage. I don't I don't think the state did a good job in writing them. Uh, they created the controversy that we're sitting here talking about and they didn't need to. But they did. Others may say, I love the standards. I want to implement them. The reality of it is to get a majority on this board, neither of those things is going to happen. So we what we need to do is figure out what is going to happen. Then we can give that direction to our writing teams to go and write the curriculum that way. Then we can come back and verify it and then we can get something implemented. Um I believe until we do that this is either going to go on forever or we're not going to approve any curriculum. >> Director >> to follow up with what director said. This is my experience. Certainly, you can tell me I'm wrong, but whatever. Um, the only reason I've ever been given from other board members, and anyone really is, well, this is what the experts want. And so, in a lot of ways, it it's it's really this idea of the experts that has been used as the excuse in my opinion, of course, to just not conversate because like I was saying, it's as though there's really only one option, which is what the experts want. And then with that invincible firewall up, you just run the clock out until eventually you got to adopt some standards or something or that that the clock comes due and we have no choice. Politically, that is that is what I've experienced since I've been on the board. That is overwhelming overwhelmingly just how I sense this has gone. And this is why I think since I found a way to bypass those experts successfully, this is why I think I I have found bewilderment. That has been the only response. Several teachers have reached out for the curriculum I wrote up. uh one made a good faith effort to respond to two of the benchmarks and even if I grant which I don't because the conversation ended I guess or was ongoing that maybe one of them wasn't good enough perhaps but if you're telling me I did a good job on 270 out of 271 wow we well I think we could pretty easily adjust to account for one additional benchmark and that's assuming it's not even sufficient and so this is the whole point I don't think there's ever been a board member if I had to wager a guess in the history of the unit district who went ahead to do all of the work of the curriculum analysis themselves and that's why I don't think there has been a response. >> Director Duchaine. >> Yeah, just uh two two quick things I think of. Um I think it's just important to note that the board gets to have a say on the textbooks. We don't get to have a say on what the standards are, right? Those are coming from the state. If this board chooses to take no decision, then we are essentially removing ourselves from the discussion about what happens next with the standards. Um secondly, I think that if there are people on this board who want to follow the lead of our experts and have been suggesting that for years as we had thoughtful plans laid out, it would not be on those board members to say what guidance document might be a good idea. I think the question has been posed and has been asked multiple times. What would that look like? You're right, Director Audet. We can't really move forward without that information. And it's a decision and a discussion that those who would like to see that document need to bring to the table and bring to the discussion so that the district staff can create something that the whole board can then react to. I think there's been asks for specificity. There's been asks for what would that look like to you? How could that work? If we don't have that information, that does cause us to look like the clock's just running out. you're just waiting. So, you're saying, "Well, we're not going to provide what that looks like." So, then we can never get a good answer back from the district of how that could work. So, I think I'd love to hear some specifics from those that would like to see a guidance document about how the standards would look in an Noah Henipin so that the entire board can react to that and then the district staff can offer suggestions for feasibility. Director Arco So, in a lot of ways, we actually have been making good faith attempts for years now to have these conversations. I would say the foundational question, which I've repeated many times, is you got to tell us what compliance looks like. Like, in order for the conversation to even begin, what is compliance? Not even necessarily minimal compliance, just what is compliance? Like, pick a benchmark. Show me what it means to meet it. How many different ways we can meet it? Can we meet it? like in a lack of having an answer to that question, there's no conversation that can be had because then what what exactly are we agreeing on then just again what the experts prefer? Well, what if I don't prefer what the experts want? Well, then what? Well, then I need to know what compliance looks like so I can figure out what all the options are and we can talk about them. But since under superintendent McIntyre that question was never answered, thus the conversation was stifled like right from the get-go. So, and and this ironically, this is why what has led me to all of this is it's precisely the the kind of stonewalling of all this just refusal to have the conversation, refusal to answer the most basic questions about what this looks like, which is ironic because you think if people are going to refer to themselves as experts, they should be able to answer the most basic question about the job that they have expertise in, but haven't got an answer to that. And so, that's why I went ahead demonstrated curriculum analysis. I went ahead found many ways that we can meet the new benchmarks. And I also went ahead and did research to figure out what according to the state of Minnesota compliance looks like. And amongst other things, um Minnesota statute says because here I'll just go ahead and read some of it. It says that we students have to have specific uh specific knowledge or skill that a student must master. So the benchmarks they have to have that specific knowledge or skill set. But it also says that the state of Minnesota may not require a specific teaching methodology or curriculum. That's also what it says. The MDE also acknowledges that social studies doesn't have an MCA test unlike math, unlike reading. They actually don't have an objective metric to establish if these standards are being met in the first place. And ultimately, it leads to yes, we have to teach the standards, but districts have broad discretion on how they want to do that. And so, that is why again, I've asked these questions, what does compliance look like? So, I've had to answer it myself. I've asked the questions, how many different ways can we meet this? You know, show give me options. That question was never answered. So, I went ahead and just did it myself and shown it to you guys. And so this is the point. I've you forced me to essentially answer all the questions that have gone unanswered for all these years. And so I've made the good faith effort to have the conversation. I've been met with silence and like I said, I would go on farther and say if I had to wager guess this was the point the whole time is just run out the clock and then claim there's only we have to meet the standard. So I guess it's going to be our way or the highway. That is what my experience has been since I've been on the board. I've made the good faith effort. I haven't seen it in return. Superintendent Cole. >> So, I'm new and um I'm opening the door to those conversations. I want to be sure that we have an opportunity um you know to continue that and get answers to questions from any board members. So I I we will do our best to do that and uh make sure that we trying to try to find a path forward >> one board member at a time if necessary or however whatever structure that works. >> Director Simon, >> thanks Linda. Uh, one thing I forgot to mention which is more of a I guess a a day-to-day thing that I think it's important to bring up is I do think that regardless of um whether we're going to purchase the uh version three or not of this textbook at least I have heard and I believe it's important for our teachers to have a textbook specifically right for a couple of reasons. Um during our cuts, some schools cut their copy pair. So copies now fall on teachers to make and there's going to be there's costs with that also. It won't all be done virtual. I think this board has pretty much said we want to start cutting some of the uh Chromebook time and the virtual time. So just doing a virtual um uh curriculum seems to counter what the majority of us have at least nodded on. We haven't made a decision on it yet. Um, and I am worried about the the potential workload of um, teachers are gonna teachers are going to need some physical things, right? So, I guess I would just say this to Sarah and Greg. Um, regardless of what happens tonight, maybe you could bring back to the board something that the district can provide to teachers, right? So, they're not it doesn't all fall on them. I don't know if that's possible or not, but that's a worry of mine. Thanks. >> Um, Super Nicole, >> we we will investigate that. Yeah, we we already have been investigating different options. >> Director Adette, >> I have a potential option three. It's not a motion, but uh I can based on this discussion pretty well guaranteed one or two will not get four votes tonight. Um if there's an option three uh to me it is whatever discussion the superintendent is proposing about policy direction what you might whatever it is uh I think that's a good idea to pursue and then uh I think we can continue with the existing text that we have license for through 2027 and I think we should continue with the same standards Uh as Mr. Arco pointed out previously, uh we believe we meet the standards already. Uh and in my opinion, we're not ready to move forward with anything else. Just based on everything we've just talked about here, we haven't reached consensus on anything. Haven't decided how we want to approach it yet. Haven't given direction yet. And so to approve something else right now, uh, I think will be a bad decision. So I'll put that out for consideration. If we want, of course, we could vote on either of those options, but I don't see a chance. >> Um, Mr. Hunter, I have a question um for clarity. So this this book presented this third edition was released August 10th for teachers to have access to. Correct. So that was 14 days ago. >> Um and school starts on September 8th and according to the board briefing um teachers will be introduced to the work on September 2nd. So September 2nd they'll be introduced to this brand new text. Um, and this this slowdown, the fact that we only got access to the book by August 10th is due to that's when the Minnesota State Historical Society released that. >> It was delayed. The projected release date originally, I believe, was in June. Um, and it um the the release was delayed by the publisher. So, yes, you are correct. All so I think you're you name a um a challenge that we held as a team as well, right? So the the dates that are a part of the brief you see they are all really close to today. Um and that was not an Anoka Henipin um problem right that was a delay for the publisher I would say. Um and um presenting updates to curriculum materials on our um district PD day is common practice in an oa henipin, not necessarily a whole new text, right? So I want to acknowledge that. Um for example, last summer when we adopted um our three elementary literacy curriculums, teachers had several options over the course of the summer to come in and get trained or they were trained on the um the workshop week date. Um, so I will acknowledge it is not ideal, right? The So what you're naming is not ideal timing. >> For clarity, were those the reading materials were piloted in the district though, right? So teachers had their hands on those prior to that. >> Some had. Yeah. >> Yep. >> Um, so in addition, the um review and um assessing different opportunities, different texts, different resources. That comparison didn't happen as someone mentioned earlier, you know, let's review these materials in April. That wasn't open for the public to see, right? >> It was that was the the curriculum review process for all of the grades for social studies that we were >> for clarity. This book wasn't present then >> because six because it's the only book you're correct. Yes. >> Yeah. >> Y so this is a unique case in that you're correct. we were we were reviewing K5 and then several um at the high school and other middle school grades because there were multiple selections. Um this resource was reviewed um previously because of the fact that it was was the one text. So for again just because I want to make certain everyone can understand the state of Minnesota expects school districts to put into place a curriculum this school year with a textbook that they didn't release until September 10th and we want to make certain that we're respectful of teacher workload and timelines for teachers that are respectful and this is outside of the control of this school district but the state of Minnesota the one resource according to the board briefing all schools are going to use this the prior resource the version two 97% of Minnesota school districts used it we don't have a a number for the new one because it's just it would be this fall that we would get that number. >> Okay. So, it just I just want to make certain that it people can be aware that um some of this work we're limited to because >> because of slowdowns from the state >> and from the release of the textbook. >> Okay. Um so, one thing considering that teacher prep time as a teacher myself, um this this sounds daunting to me. It does not sound like again due to is outside of control of this district. Teachers have not had the opportunity to review this. Like I know I've adopted materials again as a teacher where I sit down all summer long. I take my mornings and I sit down outside in the sun and I I review the materials and we the teachers haven't had that opportunity with this text. Um so that is a concern of mine. Um, another thing to consider is that according to the Minnesota Historical Society, um, this book and its related materials are customized to meet the sixth grade standards, the the new sixth grade standards that some board members find concerning and this textbook was specifically written to address those standards. Um, so another concern is that this board hasn't had an opportunity to see this tax. So it just seems um thinking now about the board's civic responsibility. Um, it seems concerning to use taxpayer money to purchase a textbook that we haven't had an opportunity to vet. We haven't had an opportunity to look at these materials and even find out if they're con controversial or not. It it might be a we don't know which way it's going to go at this point because this information hasn't been made available. Um just very concerning from coming from the state and um the expectations we want to do well for our students. I do not want students to have tattered textbooks. Um that is not ideal. I want students to have the best quality materials possible. In this case, we haven't been able to assess them and that's not even my opinion. We have not had the opportunity to assess these materials. Director Duchaine, >> thank you. I just want to um share for the public record and make sure everybody knows that the board did get access to these materials, the link and the login to take a look at the preview of the book um of last week. So, we were interrupt you there because I took time. I'm sorry. I not trying to but for clarity that was not the full resource of materials. We've been working for a week and again that was last week and even this morning I still didn't have access to the teacher edition which was to be shared with us. So that >> yeah I said the preview materials that we had access to to get a sense of how the book was looking and also I think that the comment about teacher workload is absolutely important and I think it's important to acknowledge that further delay and continuing to not choose a resource and not purchase a textbook um will make that even worse and compound the problem. So I I wouldn't view that as a justification for continued delay. Superintendent Cole. >> So, maybe I can wrap this up. I would say that um part of this uh situation was a bit of a unicorn in the fact that this is a standalone course with one textbook and we were facing textbooks that were in disrepair. Um, the other thing is it's clear to me, um, you know, I can't speak for the past, but I would say for an adoption like this, we need a we need a runway. Um, and and, uh, I know that we've had, um, processes in the past, and we may need to kind of revisit that as well as what does a process look like? And and do we want to to change that process? But I will just commit to the fact that we will do our best to do that in the future. Um this was just a situation that we feel we had to bring forward just because of the circumstances with regard to this book, the timing, um the fact that there was only one text and we're facing a a materials crunch here. So, uh, it was no one's intention to create a a situation where we have a public disagreement on this, but, um, um, we'll we'll do our best moving forward to to make sure that we have a runway for these decisions. And I'll just clarify when I say runway, the time, the interactions, the discussions as best we possibly can. board members. Are there any director? >> I was just going to say I think we still have to vote in one form or another on this. Is that right? Or like what's the if the discussion is over then? Um, if there are no further questions, then I would open um for a motion. Would anyone like to propose a motion? >> Director Arco, >> I'll make a motion to table the vote. >> Okay, there is a motion to table the vote. Is there any discussion, Director Daine? >> Um, so if we agree to table a vote today, what would be our timeline for bringing this back? Our what our next regularly scheduled meeting in September? >> Director Argo, >> just a question for clarification. Am I recalling correctly that it was discussed that as it currently stands, disregarding my analysis just for the sake of where you guys are at that we are compliant according to you through trimester 1. Is that what was said? >> No, we would need to return to the curriculum writing table. The team would need to reconvene to write to the new standards with the old text. So, in order to start this school year in compliance with the 20 2021 state standards and social studies, the sixth grade writing team would need to come back together and ensure that what they um what they are presenting to teachers includes all of the standards. So then as a followup question, is it the case that there is so little overlap between the previous standards and now that not according to me because I've already made my case, but according to you that you don't even have one trimester worth of content. >> So essentially onethird there's less than onethird overlap of the previous standards and new standards. No, that is not what I'm suggesting. I'm I'm uh what we did for grades 7 through 12 was uh based on board direction because we did not move forward with any purchases, right, for those texts. Curriculum writers had to then find open- source material to supplement for the the standards that were not included. We would need to do that same thing for sixth grade, fourth or K5. >> I need some clarity about um rules of order here. I I believe at this time we can only have discussion based upon the tableabling issue. So I I think we can't have the answer to that question right now. >> I apologize. >> Um and then as a followup to the tableing um I believe that to if an item is tabled then it is an open item and it can be brought back at any time. It does not have to appear on agenda again. Director Adette, >> it's possible to specify a later date in time. He he did not in his motion, so it's just tabled. >> Superintendent Cole, >> I would just ask if if that's the direction of the board that we have some time to figure out what what a realistic timeline would be. So, we could come back to you with that. Director Simon. >> Thanks, Linda. Um, yeah, I I guess I don't even know what we're voting on. Like, there were three potential options there. I think the discussion was we're definitely not buying the book, at least at this time. There's not four votes. I think that was the general thing, although we didn't vote on that. So, it's like, um, I don't know if I'm for voting tableabling it because I don't know what I'm tableabling. You know what I mean? like are we going to vote on buying the book on option one? I mean all the options had uh the policy thing which I'm not necessarily in favor for. So I don't know I I guess I'm not I guess I don't know. It's very unclear what we are tableabling. So I think from my understanding um is that we have the option to table the discussion which means this pauses at this time and would come back in the future. The board can vote to table it or not to which I think just needs a majority vote. Um if the board chooses not to table it, then someone could present a motion of any of those um possible options and we could vote on that and then move on to the next agenda item. Director Simon. >> Yeah, thanks. Um, I think that our staff need a direction and if that is if that is a vote to just not we're not buying the book, we should give them that so they can move on. You know what I mean? So, I guess I'm for I'm for making a and I'm not making the motion, but I'm for making a motion like are we going to buy this book or not? if I just want some clarity to our staff because they're going to go away from this meeting and go we have no idea what to do in my opinion. So I guess I'm not for I'm not I'm not for tableabling it and I'm not for necessarily making a vote on something but I'm for the board to nod and say Sarah team this board is not buying this book tonight or something like that. So, >> I'll call the question on the mo on the table. >> Okay. So, um at this time, board, we will vote on whether or not to table this item. Um all those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed say no. >> No. >> With three in favor and three opposed, the motion fails. I would entertain a motion. Director Langenfeld. >> Um it's a variation I think or an expansion of what uh director talked about a step for discussion and guidance since that seems to be a conversation that some people would need. Um and then bring that back to the board and discussion with you. Um followed by um the and I would assume we could that month of time. I would assume we can get the textbooks then at least to be able to and every board member to be able to deliver or have access to the current book um to look at that as well and then bring it back for determining next step by you know the end of September or if not sooner that that would be to determine the purchase or not. after the time discussion following what director Adet said as well as looking then for the board to address your concerns about not being able to see the curriculum at this time but having that opportunity to dive deeper and have more conversations in terms of how you would roll that out if you were to bring it in this year and address the address the um concerns that may be part of what director is talking Director Adette, >> uh, Director Lankfeld, could you, uh, you you said a lot and explain something, so could you, uh, >> could you maybe restate what what it is you're propos you're moving? >> Yeah. the the to um motion to uh take the next steps um needed in terms of defining any guidance issues that people still need uh in in collaboration with the superintendent. Um bring those back so that the whole entire board can respond to them and um to move through that process. And then the next step to look at and um have access making sure everyone has access to the current uh materials um which we can do as well within the next month or so within that framework and then come back to the table to talk about um how it's going with your team and um then determine whether or not to take a vote on the materials. I'll second that. >> Okay. With a second from director. >> Is there any discussion? Director Duchaine uh for clarity because I think this is what I heard you say but I just want to make sure that I'm understanding. So the motion is that discussions will happen uh about clarifying guidance on how to teach the more controversial standards that some view are a part of this textbook and this course of study and they will come back to the next schoolboard meeting for continuation of that discussion. So that would be um September 14th is a work session. So wouldn't be a vote there, but it could continue discussion on September 14th and then with possible future vote on the 28th. Is that what your motion intended? So like the discussion will happen between now and September 14th. So at September 14th's work session, there will be this discussion again to see like where have we gotten, how far along are we in that guidance document discussion to then decide if textbooks can be purchased, >> right? and then we would vote the the board the actual board meeting. >> Okay. >> On the 20. >> Superintendent call. >> So just to clarify the the work session would be intended to be a a discussion meeting and then potentially the next regular schoolboard meeting would be a a a meeting where we would essentially make a decision. Is that >> that's that's >> okay. I just wanted to clarify. >> Yeah, it's good. Uh my point of clarification is I think that timeline lines up pretty good. But the motion was that we would get together in about a month to discuss it. So I think if we can make that timeline work, that probably makes sense. Uh if for some reason we can't, uh you know, I don't think we're bound by absolutely the next school board meeting. But I agree that that's about in line with what about a month that you proposed. >> Superintendent Cole, >> I want to make sure Sarah has an opportunity to weigh on this. It's it's her team as well and we we have a lot going on here. Um, so I want to be sure that the 14th and 28th are are realistic timelines or or if you know maybe another option is we shoot for the 14th but we have the flexibility with board members to let them know that we don't if if we can't make that work that we could move it later potentially. >> Just that that point of clarification I made is that there there weren't really specific dates. She laid out a timeline that I think could work. Other options could work also. That's why I actually clarified that that when I seconded her, it's like I get what she's saying. We need more time. Let's take some more time. You got a good idea about what we want. Uh 30 to 35 40 days probably works. 60 70 days probably doesn't work is what I heard. So >> I think a question that I would have um so yes, that feels like sufficient time. A couple questions and this isn't necessarily for but I would just raise them in the space is who is um creating the guidance um around how the controversial issues would be taught because part of what was been discussed this evening is a need to collaborate as a as a board um or to right like have those conversations so that we do make sure that we understand your perspectives. Um, and I think a a question I would have is what the teachers in sixth grade are to do in the meantime. >> Director Simon. >> No, really, you couldn't go first. Um, so my mind goes to um what I heard tonight. I I don't know if there's if there's ever going to be four board members that vote to buy this book. So like why are we just stalling? You know what I mean? Maybe maybe I'm being a little pessimist pessimistic on this on this specific topic. But um I'm fine I'm fine with the board collaborating and board members creating a list of um things they find objectionable that we won't study and having the board look at that together. But I think we already have um something even more specific. The UBDs can be sent to the board today and the board can say I see this as controversial. You know what I personally believe no board member will see anything controversial and we can say go forward. So I don't know why we're taking extra time. It's like it feels like we're stalling and it feels like we've stall we've trying to stall out the clock. I don't know for what we seem to have been doing that for five years. So we have the UBDS the board member can every board member can specifically read everything that our teachers and our leaders created and see if they find anything controversial in there. So I guess I'm not for the um for the motion necessarily because of the time frame. I think our our t-shirt and if the final decision is we don't have four votes to go forward with this book ever, let's just tell them that tonight so they can move forward. So that's where I'm at. >> Director Edit, >> uh, two questions were were proposed and I guess I would take a shot at answering them both. first is I think anybody can propose whatever this guidance is, but I I personally would like to see the district administration be one of the anybody's I think you've heard enough discussion or if you want to go review the previous discussion to know and we and actually I mean we have shared a variety of I know I have going back to 2022 I remember the night I did it and I've reiterated it so I I sorry I don't really mean to pick a battle over that. I think we could you guys can figure out take a shot at something that could work. Um, with the goal being that actually all six of us could agree. And that may sound hard to do, but I will tell you that I actually think it's possible, but it's going to take uh a true compromise um as to what the district could do. And I think Mr. America was heading this direction. But uh I do think there's enough overlap in the standards that uh you could begin the year under the common standards that do exist between the two. In fact, uh I think he's made the case that we already comply. Uh that could easily buy you a a trimester if that's of concern. And um just order up the the way you're going to teach it that way. uh other options are possible. Since uh I do agree with Mr. Arco that we already comply, I don't actually have a concern with it, but if there is a concern, that would be a way forward. >> Coach Langanger, >> just to clarify, um and I appreciate your comments, Director Simon, um and others as well. Um the intent of the motion is to give people who raise concerns the opportunity to resolve them so that we can support the curriculum. That's really the intent. Um if people have no intention of ever supporting it, I agree with you on that as well. I mean I I'd like to look at it in good faith um and to give our superintendent an opportunity with his team to help us move this forward. Um it's uh it's been a long coming, but if we can get this done um at this time rather than just leave it out there, I really appreciate the effort uh to do that. So um so I'm going to assume good faith and uh see where that goes. Um I like to assume that as well as good intention and I appreciate director that you that you shared your thinking about um who would resolve these the issue around guidance and so forth. Thank you for that clarification thinking. >> Is there any further discussion? Okay, I'm going to restate the motion to the best of my ability. Please um help me with this. There is a motion to take next steps and guidance and whole board can respond to next steps. Discussions on how to teach standards and who creates guidance um for the controver controversial issues will be looked at and then we will come back to the table. Um, and was there a specific date for that listed in this motion? We will come back to the table at some point in about 30 days. Is this the motion? >> Well, actually before whether or not he agreed, we just following the rules of order here. You have to be like this is the motion on the table as presented. So, so if you want to if we want to add that then there has to be an amendment. >> Was that there? Okay. So, help because I did not say that when I restated. I must have missed that. So, I want to make certain that the motion is clear. Um that also there at that point about a month from now there will be a vote. new materials. >> Okay. Um, as a chair, I I just want to make certain that I'm being respectful of all board members and that this is a clear motion um that we will be taking a vote on. Are there any further questions? >> Could you please restate the motion one more time? Just I heard it, but I I need to process all parts of it. There is a motion to take next steps and guidance and whole board can respond to the next steps and look at the new materials coming back to the table in about a month. The discussions on how to teach the standards will be created for controversial issues and then there will be a vote on the new materials. Is the board a agree with the motion reading not whether or not you agree to do the statement of the motion is clear. Okay. At this time if there is no further discussion I would like to call a vote. Okay. All those in favor of the motion say I. I. >> All those opposed say no. >> No. Okay, with three in favor and three opposed. The motion does not pass. I would entertain an additional motion. Director Simon, >> I'd like to make a motion that we vote to purchase um the textbooks and utilize our two-step verification process that the board members will have um an opportunity to look at and comment on the UPDS before implementation. >> Second with a second from Director Duchaine. Is there any discussion? Director Duchaine, >> just as a reminder to the public and to the board, the two-phase process of getting textbooks and then looking at the UBDs is something that this board has done in the past specific to social studies and it was the compromise decision to get us curriculum in other subjects. So I just want to acknowledge that that was a discussion that this six member board had. That was a compromised position that was arrived upon to help us move work forward and I think it's a good use of that agreed upon process uh in this circumstance. >> Director Adet the nature of this curriculum is special. The the the previous compromise just won't apply. I mean it can apply but it it won't work just given the nature of it. Um that is why I think calling for something else is wise. So um without giving that kind of direction uh so that these uh these issues can be handled in a way that the board can agree to. I I don't I don't think this can be successful. Having this board's agreement to how to treat these standards would be huge and it is achievable. Director Simon. >> Um I would just say that um I think we can engage in that discussion and I think we can do it by looking at specifics the UBDs um and this board can look at those and say uh yes or no to them. So very specific things as oppo proposed and on the in addition to that we can create that general overview document of uh for the future but we can look at actuals right now and I think that would even be um more transparent to the board and to the public. Director Arco, >> I do generally agree with the process you laid out there, Director Simon, with um followup that it has been stated at previous at a work session quite some time ago by former curriculum writer Dan Bordwell. He openly acknowledged that teachers will drift from UBDs and I've heard from teachers that they largely don't even use the UBDs. Whether or not that's true, I'm not here to debate that fact. But the reason I point that out is because for the I'm going to keep going back to the strand five, the ethnic studies strand, that was the major change to this curriculum because I I do believe we are harming children by teaching them out of context, borderline factually inaccurate history. You need to quarantine and minimize that. And so while I can agree what's in the UBDS, I I want special consideration for strand 5, which is why I think we need some kind of policy update. And in the absence of that, I do agree with what director Adat was saying that the book itself is just such a bad source that I I wouldn't trust it anyways, no matter who was using it, even if I trusted the person completely because they're still going to give the book to the students and it's a very misleading text. Director Simon >> just want to clarify in my motion not in my motion but in the discussion that um I am I I think that the motion that I presented offers us the opportunity to look at the UBDs directly but in addition to that I'm absolutely open to um a discussion and a creating of a of a direction if you will right so that potentially the board can say these UBS These are innocuous and fine. And in addition to that, here's that document. So, it's not part of my motion, but I'm open to that, too. >> Director Aro, >> as uh coach Hogman pointed out, the state has only just made this book available. So, uh again, echoing what director had said, normally I think the two-part process is sound and we've used it successfully in the past for certain things. In this case, I almost want the order reversed, which is take the p take the available textbook now that the state has just opened it up, draft the UBDs, and then to the extent that we have this discussion, we'll start from there. Why spend the money on a textbook when even with, and I'm just wagering a guess here, even with the best written UBS, it's likely not going to happen anyways. to your point. >> Is there any further discussion? >> Okay. At this time, we have before us a motion to adopt the third edition of the Northern Lights Minnesota Studies book. All those Please add clarity. >> Can I add clarity? Yeah. Sorry. Um to adopt and purchase the third edition of the book and utilize our twofphase process where the board members will review the UBDs. >> Thank you for that clarity. So that we will purchase the Northern Lights third edition and use the two-step process for the UBDs. All those in favor say I. >> I. All those opposed say no. >> No. >> With three in favor and three opposed, the motion fails. >> Thank you, Miss Hunter. Unless there is an additional motion anyone would like to put forward. Thank you, Miss Hunter. We are now nearing our last board agenda item. Item nine, board correspondence and communication. Members, this is your opportunity to share happenings in your community, report on committee assignments or other items of interest. Does anyone have anything to share? Director Duchaine, >> thank you. Uh, and we heard from our music teacher uh about the marching band showcase that happened at Rapids High School this past weekend. Just want to say a huge thank you to the staff at that school site that made it possible. all of the marching bands and parents for a great show. And just a quick thank you to all of our staff getting students uh getting school ready for students uh to welcome them back. Your work is important. You make a difference and I see all the time and care that you put in. Thank you. >> Okay. Okay. If there are no other comments, the next item the next items will be conducted in close session. The first session will be closed pursuant to Minnesota statute 13D.03 to discuss labor negotiation strategies with the education office professionals open group. We will remain in close session for the discussion of attorney client privilege information regarding matters related to parents for good versus an Okaen school district. This portion will be closed pursuant Minnesota statute 13D.05 subdivision 3B. These closed sessions will be held in the Michael Sullivan room. I would entertain a motion to move to close session. Thank you, Director Adet. Is there a second >> with a second from Director Simon? Is there any discussion? >> Hearing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed say no. With six in favor and zero opposed, we will move to close session in the Michael Sullivan room. Should we take a fivem minute break? The time is 8:35. The meeting is recessed.