Okay. Office of the United States. And then I will school board member. that. >> Yeah, we'll do that later. >> All right, to the fun part of our organizational meeting. Okay, organiz we're going to do the um election of officers. Uh tonight we'll be doing this through acclamation. Uh what that means is that if uh there isn't a second nominee that the person nominated will have that uh position. So we'll start with the election of chairperson. Is there any nominations? >> I nominee Tony Easter. >> Any other nominations? I accept that nomination and through acclamation uh I will be the chairperson for 2026. Thank you. >> I'm I'm honored. >> Election of vice chairperson. Any nominations? >> Nominate Amy Hennon. Second >> nomination second. Any other nominations? No other nominations then. Congratulations to Amy Henning for through acclamation uh for being elected vice chairperson. >> Congratulations. >> Election of clerk. Any nominations? >> Second. >> Any other nominations? No other nominations. And through acclamation, Melody Skellyy is our clerk. >> Congratulations. and election of treasurer. Any nominations? >> I nominate Sam Vala. >> Second. >> Second. Any other nominations? Congratulations, Sam Vala, for being the election or winning the election of treasurer and board parliamentarian. Can I get a motion to designate Kelly Mlullen as parliamentarian? >> Second move by Forsber, second by Hennon to designate Kelly Mlullen as the board board's parliamentarian who shall rule on all parliament parliamentarian procedures and questions. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed? Motion passes. Can I get a motion to adjourn our organizational meeting? >> So moved. So moved by Skully, >> second by Vala to adjourn our organ organizational meeting at 7:04. All in favor, please say I. >> I. Those >> opposed. Motion passes. Thanks. >> Okay, moving to our regular meeting. Uh please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. Are there any changes to the agenda? No changes. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> So moved by Skully. >> Second. >> Second by Forsber to approve the agenda as presented. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Moving to some future events. Please check the district website for a complete list of monthly events. Monday, January 19th, no school for students or staff, buildings, child care, and district services center closed. Tuesday, January 27th, school board work session at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 10th, school board regular meeting at 7 p.m. with communications to the board and administration at 6:45 p.m. Moving to consent agenda. Can I get a motion? So moved by Hennon, >> second by Vala to approve the following items of the consent agenda. Minutes of the December 17, 2025 regular meeting, bills paid for November 2025 and the following amounts of $4,728,385 and personnel items. Moving to discuss. Oh, sorry. Can I get them? >> That's true. >> That's right. Sorry. All right. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Sorry, my mind's still on vacation. Moving to discussion reports and information items. Engaged, enthusiastic learners align work of adults to continuously improve personalized instruction and responsiveness to meet our students unique and varied needs. Our athletics and activities update with Mr. Will Wackman, our Spring Lake Park High School athletic director. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. It's been a been a long Usually I'm here in November, so we had a couple things happening. You had the stars of the show, the football team last uh time, so the state championship. What a great fall that was. I mean, you can't get any better than that, I don't think, just for not just for our players, but for our community and things like that. And somebody asked me about it and, you know, we don't have these division one players. We were just the best team. And that's that's really fun to say. Oh, how many division one players? We don't have any. We just had a really good team. And that's so what a great thing. 30ome seniors are on the team. So, it was like unbelievably believable. Unbelievable that we did it. I was on the sideline with Jeff and we looked at each other like that's a I can't believe we actually won the state tournament. But then being part of the program for as many years as I was and watching what they do all summer and those nine months that you don't see them, it is believable because our coaches and our and our athletes put so much time and effort into it. You know, those little things and all those unseen mornings by everybody else are what pay off when everybody sees you. And there was 14,000 people at the game. I called the high school league and I got a feeling like 9,000 were in royal blue. So that was a good thing. So it was what a great uh fall and I'm glad they were able to come and and share share their trophies and things with you. Um my recap, you know, as we always talk about activities are so important to our school. They're they're more than they're more than just, you know, extracurriculars. I don't call them that. You've heard me say that. It's co-curriculars. We're educationbased athletics. So the things that you learn on the field in the rink, you know, add to what we do in the classroom for our kids. So we have 15 uh girls sports and 15 boys sports. We just hit 50 clubs again. We were down below 50 and then they we've rallied rallied around that. What we're seeing is a lot of kind of duplication. So we're really trying to grow the clubs in terms of size, not just having a name. So we've we've we've really pushed the kids to say, "Hey, that's a very a lot of kids want to volunteer." So we have Parker's uh but buddies, you know, and and going out into the community. So we're trying to get that group to have 40 or 50 kids in it, so they can really do some some awesome volunteering instead of spread out. So that's kind of the the push this year. Um our senior class, you're going to see later on, I'm going to talk to you about the numbers, which I think is a really great things. Yeah, championships are great, but kids participating, that's what I'm about. So, we'll talk about that. But we're all above 85% or right around 80 to 85% every year of kids. And that's awesome. Um because as I say, if you're only at our school from 810 to 255, you're missing out because we got a lot to offer after hours. In fact, as we speak, we have about 200 over 200 kids participating right now. We have every event tonight. I was telling uh director Skellyy, we got boys basketball, girls basketball, boys hockey, girls hockey, gymnastics, adapted. I mean, it's like, holy cow, you know, like we're in here and they're going. So, it's it's it's awesome. Um, with that, I mentioned this because I talk about this a lot. Our purpose is to create a positive experience for kids. Not a perfect experience, but a positive experience, right? We're we're aiming for that. We want kids to walk away from our programs and say, "That was worth it, right? That was doing that, spending my time and choosing to do that because because they choose to do that." and it's connecting our students uh with a caring adult and then finally teaching life lessons and that kind of those three things kind of do that our vehicles are for that are our activities our athletic activities and then our and our 50 clubs that you see here and that's I always put that up because the board tends to like to look at all the new clubs we have and things like that. So, um, but 50, but like I said, those are those are the vehicles that are adults can work with kids, build relationships, and that's really what it was what it's about. Um, because you remember that, you know, I'm sure the kids are going to remember playing at the US Bank, but they're going to really remember that coach coach player relationship. You know, my life was affected ch my life was changed by a coach. So, you know, that's what I hope for for kids. That's kind of my why. People ask me that. I go, "My life was changed by a coach. I'm here today because of a coach." Well, that's the environment I want to create for for our kids. So, um I talk a lot at these things. I know some people in the audience would say that, but um I I wanted to bring some people up and I wanted to give you an example of one of the great clubs that we have. And this has been kind of a labor of love for Mr. Hilst. um he's he's our math team uh advisor and Amanda Preinger came today too and he she assists Mike with that and I wanted him to kind of you know we everybody sees our football team but I see Mike doing math problems with the kids and then they go out and they they represent you're going to hear they represent us at the state level at the national level and and he won't admit it but Sam might tell you I I think internationally. So, I'm going to invite them up to give you a little taste of what it's like to be in a club and and and from the advisory point of view, the adult and then the uh the you know kid in in the uh event. So, if Mike and Sam could come up. >> Hello. As um Will said, I'm Mike Hill. I'm the adviser or coach for the math team. I've been doing that since I think 1998. Um, I started in the district 1990 and um, just a little bit of background about the state high school math league. I believe the league started in 1981 when a professor from Mallister was wondering why all of the most talented math kids were coming from the coasts. So, he realized it was all about math competitions. And so, he decided we need to start a state high school math league. And in those early days, there was a few students involved, a few schools involved. And I was one of those students. Um, I graduated high school in the 80s. So, I got a chance to participate and so when I had a chance to get involved with coaching the team, I couldn't wait for that opportunity and I've been love I've loved it ever since. Um, Will Will said that he was here because of a coach. Uh, I'm here because of a kid tonight. Um, stand next to me is Sam. Um, you're going to hear Sam's story a little bit from Sam, but I'll just let you know before he takes over. I think I met him when he was about this tall. um which is a testament to our lighthouse program because that's where we found him and it's a great place if you're a math team coach to go recruiting as you can maybe imagine. So I met Sam when he was in sixth grade. Um and I understand you had state champions here last month the football team. Well we have another state champion here tonight. Uh last year you may remember reading about it. Sam was the state champion in the math league. um defeating I guess it's not defeating, it's outscoring, you know, we don't like to defeat, but he outscored the competition. Um he got 73 of 75 really hard math questions correct throughout the season. And in our current season, we've had three of our five meets. Uh Sam is the only student in the state of Minnesota who has not missed a question yet. So he's on his pace to maybe defend his title. So, I'm gonna turn it over to Sam and let him tell you a little about his story and his journey through math competitions as a mathlete. >> Thank you. So, uh the first thing I wanted to say, I'm just going to say a bit about my experiences. Uh m Mr. Hill said I joined in sixth grade. Uh, I remember distinctly coming to the first practice and seeing Giants because it was all the high schoolers and there were a few high schoolers in Lighthouse, but it was like, whoa, everyone's a giant here, right? Um, but that wasn't what I took away from that first practice. When I got in the car, uh, in my mom's car afterwards, when she picked me up like at 4:30, I immediately said to her with a furoughed brow, "That was hard. Those were hard problems." And that's kind of what's motivated me throughout the years is initially I was like, "This is way too hard. I don't want to continue." Right? Well, my mom was like, "Sam, this is this is a good experience for you. try it some more. And as I the coming weeks happened, I grew more and more in love with the hard problems. And in 8th grade, I mean, like over the course of the years, we have like practice materials that I was able to scare through the last 10 years of compet competitions and just try my hand at problems. half of the problems I had no idea how to solve. But as I grew, I grew to love that more and more. That aspect of I don't know how to do this. How do I do it then? And that problem solving. In eighth grade, I was invited to join the all-state math team, which is a group of around like 60 70 students uh throughout the state that are all interested in math competitions. And that was where I was in another space that I got to see I don't know how to do any of these math problems. It was a new level, another uh place where I could say, I don't know how to do anything. Let me ask a whole bunch of questions. But at the same time in that I also got to start doing national competitions where each year they would be like, "Okay, we're going to send a team to Berkeley. We're going to send a team to Princeton, and we don't care how well you do, just do your best." And preparing for those competitions also helped me figure out who I am, a community I loved and all of that. In particular with that though, the cost was a bit high to go to these competitions because they needed the all-around plane ticket. They needed the hotel cost. And the first time that I was offered to go, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it. My mom was like, "This is a bit high. However, Mr. Hills told me, "Hey, we can help pay for a part of that through we can ask the SLP Lions. We can ask the Panther Foundation for help." And I remember hearing the aid that we were going to get from those places. And my mom was like, "We can actually do this." And so, I wanted to note that because it's such a significant part of who I am. um and those national competitions. Fast forward to 11th grade now and I've been on the math team for let's see I'm a mathematician six years at this point. Um, I was I've been on the math team for six years at this point and I haven't just grown in my problem solving skills, I've grown in my teaching skills of other students that have been with me. I've grown in my leadership skills uh in all of that as well as a respected member of my local math team community, right? And it's grown me in so many more ways than just knowing how to solve math problems. It's opened so many doors. And so when I got to the state tournament, I had nerves, but inside I knew that no matter how well I did, all of the things that I was taking away from the math team, not just the math problems, not how well I'm going to do on the test, that's what really mattered to me. And yeah, that was kind of it. So, >> any questions? >> Um, that's good. >> I'm just gonna say I I attended your the state meet last year over spring break at our high school and um I know Jeff in the past has talked about this. I was in the audience when they put those questions up on the board. I mean, the level of >> thinking involved uh in this competition is just extraordinary. So, congratulations. I was very proud to be there that day. And I also want to do a shout out to Mr. Hills, too. My son went in high school took classes with Mr. Hills, but I wouldn't say that he was like a math guy like you are, but um of all of his teachers, Mr. Hills was his favorite. So, thank you to you for everything you do as well because he really, you know, helps so many kids. And congratulations again, Sam. It's amazing. >> Thank you. >> I personally love hearing from you. I love that you found your place and that you are thriving and that you are bringing others up with you. It's inspiring and I I'm just so proud of you. I'm so proud that you're an SLP student and also my I have four sons and all four of them have said that Mr. Hills is one of the nicest, most willing to help teachers that we have >> in our schools. So, thank you for what you do, too. >> Anyone else? I was just wondering what Sam is going to do in his future >> after you after you graduate from high school. What are you looking at doing? >> A lot could change, but at the moment I'm so into math that it's like uh my current path is math research. I've begun like looking papers trying to come up with my own theories and stuff. Um, and that's been really fun and that's probably where I'll end up, but I'm keeping my options open because with the skills I've developed, a lot of things could change and I could end up in a lot of places. So, but wherever I end up, math team has been a huge part of where who I going. So, >> drop us a note. >> We'll do. I just want to say Sam I mean this is my 16th 17th years I'm not a mathematician so I can't figure it out my head but as a superintendent listening to students come and in partic and present and in particular talk about their athletic experience so how you just talked about whether it's football math team but how you talked about how this experience in math team not only helped you with your math experience but grow as a person and be able to impact others um Like I hope I'm glad we have that in video and can capture that because that's how I like when Will talks about kids wanting kids to have a positive experience in athletics and activities. You just described what we want for kids whether it's math team or a sport or any other club. And so I just really appreciate you um giving that thoughtful kind of testament to your experience. >> I do want to whether you or Mr. with Mike because I've shared with the board before like a few years ago when I went to it was the first time I went to the math team state tournament and I had such a new appreciation not just for the difficulty the questions but the the community that um that you spoke to that the kids had found their place >> and you that you could feel it when you were there. Um just like when you go to another sport like kids like they felt like they belonged there. they had a space and I'm so I'm glad you spoke to that but the thing that blew my mind was that and you were in that competition where it was and I was standing next to you Mike can you explain it to me but I've never been able to explain to them if you could take like two minutes and explain how that competition where it's the 10 questions and there certain amount of time works because that just blows my mind you mentioned the questions like I don't even try to answer the questions when they're up there they're >> yeah it's it's kind of funny we've always joked with Sam that and he'll tell you that's his worst format for solving problems. He likes to be at a desk with a p paper and pencil, but >> that's so they'll take the top 50 students throughout the season. There's 3,000 kids typically in a a year that participate in math league and um so the top 50 of those students are invited to the individual state tournament to start off the day and they take a written competition and then the top 10 of those students are invited up to the stage and they don't know that they're going to make it up to the stage until just before that happens. And so they call them up one by one. They each take a spot on the stage and a series of questions is presented to them and they'll say, "You have 45 seconds to solve this problem." And >> like that kind of problem. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Difficult problem. >> You have a sheet and you just flip it up and you're like, and they read it off. You can't touch your pencils, but they read it off and then go. And then you can just hear everyone pick up their pencils and start going. >> Yeah. And I consider myself a fairly strong mathematician. Um but by the time these kids are turning their answers up, I'm just finishing reading the question. >> You know, it's they're just at a whole different level. And so it's um there's a series of like seven or eight questions they'll ask the students and then whoever has the most questions will be declared the winner of the math bowl. They call that. It's kind of an exhibition more than it is part of the main competition. It's supposed to be fun. Sam will say that it's a stressful kind of fun, but uh >> it's again it's my worst format. >> Yeah. Thank you for taking because that that is just an amazing competition >> to watch. >> Yeah, we've hosted it here and it's been great that we've been able to get some of you to come and see it. >> Yeah. >> So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Where's it at this year? >> South St. Paul South St. high school >> mid March >> they usually host it but they couldn't >> go >> I think I can go >> after that holy cow yeah I mean there it is right there shining example you know and and just in their whole story we heard Panther Foundation the Lions Club and that it was held at our in our great facilities and so we want to our community supports Sam you know and we know it's important And uh you're gonna do great things whatever you do. You're probably gonna write poetry. I got a feeling maybe already started. Yeah. So I mean just what a what a great you know Mr. Hills maybe you should be a teacher of the year at some point. I got a feeling >> he doesn't like that self-promotion. I don't think so. Um our fine arts I I like to talk about our fine arts and just run you through some things and and I told you our conference does a great job. Um, our conference, the Northwest Suburban Conference, is the biggest and it's the best. And really what they they treat uh a a championship in a sport just like they do a fine arts festival. And they and they do that with dollars. They show you that they care, right? Show they show the the budget is to help kids do fine arts at the Minnetonka Center for Arts. I've told you about that. It's so cool to go down there and just see these kids for a day get to go learn and be creative, you know, just the creativity and they get to pick and choose what classes they want to do. Then we got our kids in the play, you know, and the clue. I played this board game as a kid. And so my wife and I were going to see this. So it was great, you know, uh just a great job they do in in our theater department. And uh it's just amazing those kids, you know, to get up in front of people, you know, at that age. And like what a skill that is in and of itself. So um I want to highlight one other group and and it's our band. Um, and I've talked about them before, but you know, when I think of our band, I thought about I gotta highlight them. I went to the Veterans Day uh celebration at HY, one of our great partners in our district, and they give free breakfast to veterans, right? It was really cool line outside the door. It was great. And there, you walk in and there's our band playing for them. Um, what a cool thing, you know. Um, so it's a great experience not only for the kids, but they provide a great experience for people in our community. Um, so I'm like I I asked them what what do you what did you do all fall? Multiple senior living home performances, right? A trip to Chicago. They they played at the uh Lions Club holiday dinner. They played at the uh the holiday store that we have. They they do tiny desk performances during school. Uh and then it was kind of cool last week at at one of our games the alumni band came and played. So I mean that's just that's just to January. So, we still got like five more six more months to go. And and I and I said, "It's got to be a great experience when you can go to cool places like Chicago and they've been to Germany and I think they're they're going to Greece next uh next year." But I always think when kids come back for that alumni band, that tells us they had a great time. Like, I want to come back. And uh that says a lot about our not only our band directors, but and the program they're running, but the environment they're creating. So, couple of examples that you've seen, you know, and not on not on a a sports field, right? And so, that that's so important that kids find their spark and just like Sam did and the two up here, Mickey and Mia, they they find their this, you know, Sam just came from robotics. So, I mean, so he's not just doing math, he's he's taking advantage of other things um with that. So, just wanted to highlight our band and and tell you what a great job that they're doing. They do it every all all through the year and they have concerts coming up in in uh February. Uh our fall team highlights obviously we got to talk about the the state championship which we did already was a great just a great thing for our whole community and like we had hi step up and the ballpark and all these all these other all these groups wanted to be a part of that. So when you're doing good things, people want to get involved and that's awesome and we love that, you know. Um, girls soccer, they've had this amazing run. They haven't been able to win the big one, but it's like, you know, and and I think I I it was like a 22 shot shootout. It was I mean, I was standing next to the Mountain Athletic Director going, "How do you even know the rules of this?" I mean, it's I mean I mean, the lights were going to go out. I'm looking I'm like, "I set the lights for 9:45." I'm like, "Okay, they're going to they're going to go out." They actually did after the game and we had to quick turn them on. So, the lights went out for a little bit. So, um they've just done a great job and we've had some really really special athletes in that program. Some that we'll probably be hearing from for a long time in that. And then I wanted to highlight I probably and I told this to the staff at a staff meeting, the participation numbers are these this has got to be as high as we've ever had. I mean, I'll just give you a couple examples. We had over a hundred boys come out for soccer. We had to turn kids away. We added a team actually. So, we actually had the most teams in the Northwest Suburban. And that was Coach Pauliey's first season. He's like, "Oh my gosh, I didn't think we'd Oh, we we'll figure it out." And we had there was a multiple meetings figuring out this out just getting them there and getting more balls. And we we found a way to do it. And but that's awesome. That's what we want um for that. But we um the other number on there is 129 seniors. And that is just, you know, when you had the senior banners in our stadium, it was like it went on the whole railing and I like this is this is we haven't had a senior class that's been this involved because unfortunately as you go up it's kind of a pyramid. As you move up there's just not as but our football team and our girls soccer team and our I mean it was just endless seniors. So credit to our senior class for wanting to be involved and staying involved. And a lot of times some people, well, I'm not going to play. So then they hang it up and this. No, I want to be a part of something. And you know, obviously if you're on some of these teams, you were rewarded with that. So I wanted to highlight that. That's what really gets me out of bed. How are we going to get kids involved? So um with that, we have have a ton of I mean with that, look at 24 all conference. I mean that's just shatters what we've had before um with that. So, and then we have three all state soccer players and Brooke played in the national high school soccer game. Brooke, our goalie, Brook Gorish, she's already she's heading out to Colorado already to start. So, um we've g Genevie was a sec two-time state participant um in cross country. And then our swimming, Greg Cougler does a great job with our our swim program. And we had a diver this year, Ellis Rosenberg. So, that's really cool to see her finally get there, you know, as a as a senior. So when you see those and then Sawyer was lucky to lucky enough to play in the All-Star games extremely hard to make that they only take 44 kids from the northern part of the state and he made that he broke he hurt his hand really bad in the playoffs and I think he had surgery and then he went and played and you go whoa like well that was pretty important are you sure you want to do that? So but he's he's good he's coming back for basketball pretty quick. So, um just a great uh a great group of kids right there in individual performances, you know. Um and it's cool to see a relay, too. So, it's a team still with that. Um we're going to have some Panthers go out into the represent us at the next level. Um this is just the start. These are the first four that we had in November. We have a signing in a couple weeks and then we have our big uh signing in the spring. So, we have, you know, I I estimate we'll easily be over 20 kids playing playing athletics, which is awesome to see our our kids go out and represent us. And you can see that's D1, D1, D2, D1. You know, there's Nolan right there. He's probably got about 25 already tonight. So, he's just outstanding um in there. But, it's going to be cool to see those. And what's cool is when they come back, you know, it's cool to see, you know, my son came back with the St. John's gear on. And it's really cool for our kids to see that. But it also said awesome that he wanted to come back. So um these these guys will come back, but then they'll also represent us out there. Um our AAA award um this usually I'm not usually by the time we decide this I've I've already presented. So this year it's a little different. Um Nathaniel Cosb and Greta Solum. And the AAA award is a Minnesota State High School League award. and you only you unfortunately can only pick one male and one female from each each school. So this is a huge honor. Um and what they what they ask for is strong in academics, play athletics and and do something in the arts. So it's, you know, kind of a best allaround. You know, we do everything um with that. And so now they go into a pool of of of our our our section, so every school. So they're competing. And you know, I always talked to him and I said, you know, you got this far and if you don't, I don't pick this. You know, we're going to we're going to throw the your resume out there. And I said, I've been on the the committee. Everybody these kids, you know, people think, you know, we're going to be okay. You know, there's a lot of great kids, not just in our school, but there. But credit to these kids for representing us. So, it's just fun to see them. You know, they're doing they're on the athletic field and all of a sudden then they're playing in the band. So, that's our trip. Those are our AAA winners. Um, and that's that's it for you. Um, like I said, we got 200 kids already going. So, I mean, before you know it, we're going to have playoffs go for winter. I can't believe it, but it goes by so fast. But it's it's a fun ride. >> Any questions, comments? >> My comment is I just appreciate your passion. So evident. I had a blast. I spent a lot of time with Will this fall going, especially with the run of the football team. And um I do have to say Will did struggle with his role as AD this fall. There were moments he really wanted to be one of the assistant football coaches. I had to remind him like, will you're the AD like get back here. So, but that was a blast. So, thanks. Great presentations. Always appreciate it. Well, >> I'm just impressed too with what you mentioned as well, the community support of like the people with the meals and with with all these different teams too. And I don't know, it really does hit home when you see how many people are invested within for our kids with the kids. And so, I love your passion, too. And I'm so grateful. And we are now no longer going to be the last ones at the stadium. So, you I usually walk the skellies out and then lock up the whole stadium. So, she she waiting where will be the last. That was really fun to look up and you There was guys from the 1991 championship with their jerseys on that didn't really fit some of them, but they still won the jerseys. It was really cool to see that and and just the the community rally around. How can you not, you know, how can you not? They give us the hardest gauntlet out there and we conquered it. So, thanks for having me. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to effective operations, improve our effective management of human, financial, and physical resources. 2025 2026 enrollment registration and grade level transitions update. Colleen Peterson, executive director of community education and outreach, and Erica Tyel, executive director of communications and marketing. It seems like I follow Will all the time, which is really challenging. Bye, Will. >> Um, but Eric and I are as >> See if it'll switch next time. >> We are as passionate about enrollment as he is about athletics and activities. So, we are here tonight to update you on what we have uh going on. January is a fun time because all of a sudden we're planning for September and uh the 26 27 school year. So, we just wanted to run through what we have happening right now so that you're aware and that our community is well aware as well. So, enrollment uh is open. It's been open since December 1st and we have been accepting enrollments and processing them which is exciting. It's always kind of that challenging time. We're straddling one uh school year and we're already bringing in the new but our team is doing a great job. This is an important time for us to get to know these families and our students by their interests, their name, their strength, and their needs. And so we take the opportunity with all of these opport with all of these events and uh get to know you events to be able to do just that. This uh our work provides warm welcomes for our families across the uh district and I think you'll see that across the grade levels. Ease anxieties and answer questions. I remember it was a long time ago but I remember being a kindergarten parent for the first time and what that meant. So making sure that that transition as well as our transition into uh Westwood and the high school go smoothly for everyone. That is our goal. So tonight we will share what we're doing for kindergarten enrollment as well as early childhood programs, our Westwood transitions, and then our high school transitions. This is one of my favorite pictures. In fact, I may have taken this picture at our early childhood event, but these two little guys, uh, it's a great picture to show that you're never too early to start being a panther in Spring Lake Park schools, and we want to make sure that we're welcoming all of our children from birth, um, all the way up. So, uh, we have been layering our approach this fall. Erica and her team have done a wonderful job making sure that we're hitting families with multiple ways of communication of here's all the ways to get involved as a Panther between home mailings, brochures, letters, and postcards. Uh electronic we those that we have good email addresses for, we're trying to get them included in as much as possible as well as in-person uh events and personal tours. anytime someone wants a personal tour, our administrative team and others across the district are taking that opportunity to welcome families and and show them who we are and why we're why they need to be here. So, um we want families to know that uh it's not just kindergarten. They can start with us as early as a baby in our early childhood family classes. So, we're excited to do that. Here's some of the things and our timeline that we've uh put forth this fall. Starting in October, we actually sent out about 5,000 uh mailings to zero to five aged families. Uh in December, our our principles sent a welcome message to all of our uh who we believe will be incoming kindergarteners this fall. And uh in January, our families uh saw a kindergarten brochure and we're welcoming them at our new family information nights at the end of the month and early February as well. Those are important for families, especially if they're new to the system, for them to come in, take a look around. I those were the events that I remember easing my anxiety of what does this building feel like and look like and walking around with Allison or Aaron by hand and and walking them through. So, those new uh new family event nights are very important. We'll walk through those dates in just a minute. In February, we do phone outreach. So all of those folks we expect but we have not yet seen or heard from. We call we start calling them and asking them what their plans are and try to get them in which is great. Through March and April, our K confirmation letters will go out especially to those who may be choosing to transfer to a different school within the school district or if they're choosing Spanish immersion, we want to make sure that we've given them um ample time to know what their choice is. And then our phone calls will continue as soon as families are enrolled in the school district. We actually have staff reach out to them to start their learner profile and to get to know that student and that family so that they're not walking in um blind to our staff or or to our teams. In May, we'll have our K and action event where we will get to know our learners deeply. Um that's a fun event. You are all welcome to join me at that and see what our our littles are doing. And then August, we're excited to offer Kinder Camp again, which has been a great success. The new family information nights uh is geared for families with children ages zero to five. We'll have staff there both kindergarten and early childhood. But we want to make sure that we're walking those families uh through all of their questions as well as the sites that they're interested in. And you can see the dates there starting January 27th at North Point Center is on January 29th Woodrest February 3rd and then Park Terrace on February 5th. All of the events are 5:30. Those are start times and the principles have a short presentation but then a lot of it is question and answer as well. And then most recently our team has been focusing on immersion and making sure that our community and surrounding community is well aware of the immersion programs that we have. It is unique in our area and so we want to make sure that families are aware of the choice. We have expanded our outreach uh to share broader throughout uh the community and surrounding areas and that includes home mailings again to ages zero to five, social media campaign, website optimization, new family information night, and then our team has also updated handouts for staff to use as well. And I'm going to hand it over to uh fourth grade is also a big deal. fourth grade to fifth grade transition, especially in our district, um is a huge change for our students and our families when they come together at Westwood. Um and we try to take a really intentional approach where we do that warm handoff between the K4 experience to um the to the to the experience at Westwood. Um so actually um this week, last week, um K4 principles started to like preview that the Westwood um information would be coming their way. We just kind of try to seat it a little bit here early in the year. Um in February, the Westwood team also communicates directly with all fourth grade families um just to introduce themselves and to just start to like make themselves known um that they're real human beings and what to look forward to in the coming months. Um they are doing some overview sessions on February 25th. Um they're going to do two online sessions and then um they will also offer an and oh no that's a different group. Yeah, two online sess or three online sessions and then a month later they'll do the big in-person event which is the Westwood welcome. Everyone descends on Westwood and um they have a just experience in the building so they can really just get in, see the spaces, get answers to their questions. Um I was and then in May the highlight for every well I don't know who it's the highlight for it's either the fourth graders or the fifth graders. Um the fourth graders will come and visit Westwood during the day and experience the school. Um, last May, right before that happened, I was at the Panther Mentor meeting for the fifth and sixth graders, and they're the ones that lead the tours, and they were saying, "Oh, well, the fourth graders are coming to Westwood, and they're starting next week." And the kids were like, "Yes." It's like really exciting to be able to show off um Westwood to those coming up. So, um it was fun to see their enthusiasm and they're really great ambassadors for their school. Um seventh and eighth grade, um the students will do their elective registration. Um, so they have two different dates for that. All of that preparation happens with one-on-one counselor meetings as well as small group conversations with kids. Um, and then of course families are invited and we want to make sure that they have the opportunities to get information about those um those choices. So they're offering two different dates for um some online engagement around that. Um those materials are still in the works. They'll be posted at the end of January, but they have a little bit later registration time frame. And then high school registration. For the last several years, we've continued to evolve how we're working to support um students and families as they make those plans for next year and really think more broadly about their remaining high school years and beyond. Um so registration opens Monday, um January 12th. So all the materials are out there. They're all updated. the website is live. Um, and really this this is a whole month to explore those options and then connect with staff members, counselors, and others um, just to make really intentional choices um, for those courses. So, the URL is there and I know I've seen in a couple of the pulse check comments from parents that they're always like, "Well, where do I look and when does that stuff happen?" It's out there all year round. you can go and look at all the college courses that are offered. Um, all of the pathways, classes, all of that is out there and now it's updated for um, next year. There's an interactive guide and then there's one where you can browse. I mean, we try to satisfy everybody's preference for how they want to um, consume that information. And then of course there'll be timelines. This is a timeline of all the touch points over the next month. Um, so they're doing grade level um, information sessions for families because we know that your um, information that you need as an incoming ninth grader is really different than the information you might need as a senior. Um, so tailoring those opportunities. And then um, February I feel like that that's right, the date is right. There's so many dates and so many times I have to double check everything. Um, so February 11th is the explorer options event. um that's the big inerson event and it's really near the time of registration closing because at that point there have been a lot of opportunities. So it's sort of like if you want to talk to a human and get that last question answered it's a great um chance to do that. Also like athletics and activities will be there. It's the first time the eighth graders will really have a chance to come look around the high school. Um and that also great planning on this um to have that on the same night as conferences so that families can kind of you can meet with current teachers and look at registration all at the same time without making an extra trip. And then uh registration will close on Friday, February 13th. And I think that's the extent of our update. About a million dates and times. So good luck with that. I will say they're all posted on the calendar. I double checked. Any questions? >> Any questions? >> Thank you. >> I just want to I just want to say Oh, go ahead, Marilyn. Sorry. >> Not a question, but particularly to Mrs. Peterson. Think about it. You say it's hard to follow. Will if we didn't have this start and get these little people in, well, job wouldn't be so good. >> That's true. That's true. >> Good job, Marilyn. way to way to connect it. I just want to say um Amy and I were kind of chatting a little bit. I'll share. Um and it's just we remember when our kiddos were in school, it was kind of like drop them off, get you know, go. But I appreciate all the different touch points along the way for the kids and the parents to kind of cut through that anxiety and that fear especially going from your your elementary school to the middle school intermediate and middle. It's there's a lot of fear and anx when I was a kid going through it and to have all those touch points and >> and as a parent >> and as a parent to have all the touch points and just comforting the parents and saying, "Hey, we've got your kiddos." It really speaks to our culture. >> Um and we see it through everything even with athletics and activities. Um, it really speaks to our culture that we care about the kiddos and and and you know, we're here to serve them and make sure that we're creating an environment >> for them to learn. So, I just want to say thank you. I appreciate it. >> Well, there are so many people involved in making all this happen. Our principles, our admin assistants who we do the inerson events for kindergarten and young kids, but they are doing tours all year round. I mean, we get requests for tours. We will we will do that. So, um, there just a lot of people every day that are working to make those transitions and so it's our pleasure to represent their work. >> Thank you. >> Moving to engaged and enthusiastic learners, align work of adults and continuous continuously improve personalized instruction and responsiveness to meet our students unique and varied needs. Advanced Curricular Reviews DOP project update. Dr. Hopron. >> Good evening everyone. I wanted to just take a few minutes to give you an update as uh Tony just said on one of our district operational plan projects within that strategic anchor of engaged enthusiastic learners. This project includes three different content areas, math, social studies, and multilingual learning. And they are all in different places in our curricular review cycle. So, we'll give you a quick update on that. We have used this graphic before with the schoolboard and with our community to help folks understand what goes into a curricular review and to help people understand where we're at in that review. So, in year one of a curricular review, we do some research into those evidence-based practices and we take a deep look at our current practices. This is often kind of that behind the scenes work. That's all the prep that's needed before we bring a design team of teachers in. This is where we're at with math right now. Um, in year two of a curricular review, we move into the second phase of what we call the intended curriculum. This includes just making sure we're all clear on what it is we want kids to know and be able to do uh through our competencies and learning progressions. It uh helps us take a look at a balanced assessment approach that provides that body of evidence for student learning and it also includes the core resources that support the design of student work and learning experiences. And this is where we're at with social studies right now. In year three of a curricular review, we purposefully design and implement professional learning. This might look like professional learning around a specific content area framework that provides best practices in learning and teaching. It might include professional learning around a new core resource. It might include some design work for some upcoming units and lessons to support students in their learning. And this is overall where we're at with multilingual learning. We have a few aspects of multilingual learning. And I'll give you that update just in a little bit. Um, of course, all of this is not on a strict timeline. uh these are general guidelines. For example, we're always looking at the design of student work and learning experiences year-over-year based on the students in front of us. It doesn't only happen on this cycle of years. Um so that's important for people to know, too. We really have to make sure we're looking at those students in front of us, their strengths, their interests, and their needs, and then do that learning design and refine that based on who is in front of us. All right. Uh we're just going to go a tiny bit more into each of the areas in math. As I mentioned, we're in year one of that curricular review cycle. So far this year, we have collected, synthesized, and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data specific to our math learning and teaching. We've also done some looking out what we call in that um uh design thinking methodology to best practices in math course sequencing and learning design and some initial looking around to what other dis districts are doing not only in the metro but throughout the nation. And again all of this is background work that we're doing to prepare to bring a design team of teachers in. So there will be some initial design team work yet this school year and then that will scale over the course of the 2627 school year. In the area of social studies um we did have a design team in last year year one of the cycle where they took their turn engaging in that looking in out and around. We've given you an update on that last year, but the result of that work was the development of a social studies framework uh that really highlights best practices in the learning and teaching of social studies areas. Uh over the summer, the design team moved into the year 2 work. They began by refining the social studies competencies and learning progressions and we have teams ready to start that resource review process in a week in the last two weeks of January. We have both a 712 team and a K6 team. So there will be more to come after that's done and the team has some more information to share on that resource review. Okay, this is the third year of a curricular review specific to multilingual learning opportunities. And again I mentioned earlier there's a few facets to this. This includes programming for students who are acquiring the English language, our immersion programming and our world language programming at the secondary level. So building off some discovery that our multilingual team multilingual design team engaged in this seems like forever ago during the 23 24 school year. Uh a smaller team has worked on uh creating and refining an immersion framework which guides further implementation of our dual language immersion model and vertical articulation prek through grade 12 with that. So still more professional learning to come as we are in year three of this. Uh similarly, some updates and refinements were made to our framework that supports language acquisition of the English language for our multilingual students. That happened last year. At this point in the year, our certified staff have engaged in some professional learning around those refinements specifically around some instructional strategies that can be built into learning designs to support language acquisition regardless of your role or the content area you may teach. And then finally in the area of world language um again as we look backwards the world language framework was developed um about a year and a half ago. The professional learning around that happened last year. So the focus this year was about finishing a study of our world language offerings at the secondary level. Uh the result of that study is that we are adding American Sign Language to our high school course registration which Erica just mentioned that registration process uh to be offered in the 2627 school year. And so once registration is done is done we'll give you an update of what that registration looks like for that new uh language course as well as other world language courses later this spring. And the remainder of this year is just simply focused on some additional professional learning and then monitoring the implementation of the work and learning that has happened over the past couple of years in this area. And that gives you a brief update of this district operational plan project, where we've been, what we're doing, and what's coming next in all of those areas. >> Questions? Anyone? >> This is looks exciting. Thanks, Moving to effective operations, improve our effective management of human financial and physical resources monthly financial report for November 2025. Miss Amy Schultz. >> All right. Good evening board. Uh tonight we're going to do just a really quick update on our finances. I know last month you got to hear a lot of numbers and a lot of presentations. So tonight we will just go through our usual three slides that we do as our monthly update. So, the first of these is our treasures report, and this is our cash beginning and ending balance, as well as our receipts and dispersements. Um, this month, usually I can get up here and say not a lot changes monthtomonth. It's a little more in revenue or a little less in dispersements. Um, this month looks a little different. We don't typically see over $50 million in either of those columns. Um, outside of debt service though, it was a relatively um standard month. we had just under five million in property tax receipts. Anytime we have a higher tax um month, we actually have lower state aids that come in. So that was about one and a half million. Um but you can see on the debt we've the board's been hearing about this since this fall. We did a bond refunding which is similar to a refinancing for a home mortgage. And with that, um, we were able to, uh, basically refinance our bonds at a lower interest rate, which then saves our taxpayers money on their, um, what we love principal and interest payments. So, this refunding that we did, it was about $44 million in um, revenue that came in to refund those and then paying off the old bonds. So, in doing that, it did reduce future tax liabilities by $1.5 million for our taxpayers. Again, money that is directly saved by the taxpayers. It does not affect our net income at all. On the statement of revenues, this shows our receipts for the month year to date, our budget for this year, still our original budget. We have not made any amendments to that. Where we sit as a percentage at this point in the year in November, and then where we sat in November the previous two years. You can see overall within our operating funds, those top three, we are relatively close to where we have been the last few years. Um, a little bit different in food service, it's a little higher, a little bit in community ed. Those were years um where we were really trying to we were budgeting a little bit conservatively. CO dollars were still coming in. So during those years, we had a little bit of a lower starting budget. So the percentage of money that we received when those CO dollars came in kind of shot up as a percentage compared to budget in those years. And then debt obviously we've had two years of refundings which have thrown off a little bit of those percentages year-over-year. So you can see that you'll see the same thing as far as debt goes on the expense side with both of those as well over the past two years. Um, within the general fund, we are remaining relatively consistent to the previous two years. The area we do see the most fluctuation is typically in our capital projects and that relates to budget as well as the timing that those projects are done. Some projects get done right away in June of a previous year that we maybe thought would bleed into the next year. Some we budget to be done in June but actually bleed maybe because of weather into the following year. So the timing of those capital projects is always a little bit off and so year to year that area fluctuates. So I am going to actually pause and make this a really quick update from this month but if there are any questions >> any questions. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Moving to superintendent report. Mer bring that up. So there's a lot going on here. um gonna walk you through a few of the turns going on throughout the district. Um there we go. So Park Terrace fourth graders got a learning display recently kind of uh see pictures. The cool thing was just how many people were in attendance and involved which you can see in the lower left. It's great to see so many people showing up at Park Terrace. Winter spirit weeks at both North Point and Woodrest. See matching with a friend and hat day. So kids love the hat day. Westwood students um learning about the Great Depression, songs, skits, posters, newscasts. So a lot of different um active learning happening there at Westwood. Then our grade seven a choir classes singing throughout the hallways before winter break. So kind of what Will was talking about earlier, having a chance to perform for peers is fun and important. Our lighthouse school students were learning how to play steel drums kind of preparing for a performance later this winter. And then this is always fun to stop over at the the high school when they have the Shark Tank competition. And um so our students in our marketing and entrepreneurship course uh pitch their business ideas. Um so our cloud case winners, Maddie and Ava. So the winners. So but for each one of them to see them get up there and the kids, they're so on point with their presentations. It's just fun to watch. And they get really hard questions from um the judges who are uh community members who uh volunteer their time to come in and serve as judges. And then from our TED pathway technology, engineering and design, they recently visited visited Dunwood College to uh experience their hands-on tech explorers lab. So had a chance to do that coming. So January 19th, MLK day, so there's no school for students or staff. Uh 12th and 13th, no school for students, staff, professional work day. the 16th. President's Day is a holiday, so no school for students or staff as well. Upcoming for one act play, stretch your legs. One act play is always a blast. Encourage people to get out and see that if they can. Upcoming dates there. Um and then new family information nights. Just have a chance to hear about these. But there are the nights. Um I think they're really excited about their information night. That was that they took that picture when they were told about the information night. Yeah. So um and then our week of giving Panther Foundation leading into that Panther for a purpose party at the end of the week is February 22nd to 28th. So and then just before I leave you, this is just one more thing I think it's important to acknowledge and share. It's been a challenging time here um the last week um and in particular this past week throughout our school community and the larger community. Um there's so many staff who are working so hard to be sure that each of our students and their families have what they need at this time. Um one of the most important things is just living out our vision, ensuring that each student feels safe, valued, has a sense of belonging. I look back and I know we have three Woodrest teachers there who are doing that each day. Um with kids at Woodrest, Blanca who's sitting in the frontier. I just want to acknowledge she has gone above and beyond connecting with families um supporting families in just amazing ways. Um, so I just wanted since you're here, I wanted to point that out and say thank you Blanca and Abon is back here as well. Just been answering phone calls and and speaking um with people and I'm just so appreciative and it's not just these I do my math right there. Five people that I mentioned there's so many people so engaged and so involved and um it really makes me proud. So, um, if there's anyone out there who needs anything or if you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact your school principal, myself, or Colleen Peterson, who's really serving as a point person in answering questions and working with various community groups. Again, I'm so thankful for the staff and many in the larger community who bring care and compassion to our students and families. The willingness to offer and provide help makes me proud of this school community and our larger community. Thank you. That's it. >> Thank you. Thank you. and thank you also for supporting our community. We appreciate it. Moving to action items. Can I get a motion to approve the second reading of revised schoolboard policies? >> So moved by Vala, seconded by Skellyy to approve the second reading of the following revised policy number 533, school meals. Any discussion? just largely to reflect the free meal situation. Um basically the summary for anybody who might be watching. >> No discussion. All in favor please say I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. And can I get a motion for acknowledgement of gifts? So moved by Mlullen, seconded by Hennon to approve the following resolution. Whereas schoolboard policy 706 establishes guidelines for the acceptance of gifts to the district. And whereas Minnesota statute 465.03 states that a school board may accept a gift of real or personal property by the adoption of a resolution approved by twothirds of its members. Therefore, it be resolved that the school board of Spring Lake Park Schools accepts with appreciation the gifts as shown. Any discussion periodically, I just feel like it's important to say because people might look and say, you know, really appreciative for the people that came to the $26, but there's way more than that that's coming to this the school community variety of ways. You heard Sam earlier talk about the Panther Foundation and the Lions and often those aren't reflected here because they're not gifts directly to the district but they're partner organizations who then support in a variety of ways PTO's etc. So I just wanted to say there's all kinds of support that our community provides that aren't offered always. So just >> we say thank you for the gifts and donations. It is very well appreciated and we do put it to great use. Can you please call roll? >> Miss, yes. Miss Kelly, yes. Mr. Tala, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hennon, >> yes. >> And Mr. Eastern, >> yes. >> The resolution passes on a 60 vote. >> Thank you. >> Moving to uh board forum and reports. Uh, anything to share? We'll start on my left. I know it's not a lot has happened. >> How about same nothing to >> future? >> Thank you. >> Yeah, >> AMSD had the report on the statewide survey which was interesting. I don't know if we participate in that or not but but lots of survey on from students regarding various activities but otherwise I've been quiet too. >> Have you know that's that is probably the shortest update we've received from Maryland. Wow. >> We'll go to our student reps Mia and Mickey. So to give a quick student council recap, we are totally focused on our winter spirit week that is coming up the first week of February. Um we are workshopping a new idea that's kind of focused on fundraising and putting work and effort towards something to kind of improve the school. the specifics are still being worked out, so I can't say too much more, but I'll update you guys next time. Um, so yeah, and then but that will include a pepfest, our annual amazing race. So yeah, encourage students if you're watching to do the amazing race because it's super fun and not enough people do it each year. Um, also to highlight a recent um um event that happened to our Panthers and Policy group. They went to participate in the youth in government meeting. I don't know exactly what you would call it, but it was in Minneapolis. They were there for like four days and they each had created like a proposal for a law and they went and met with people from other schools and they kind of went through the system of how you would pass a law going to committee subcommittees and yeah so that was super cool learning experience for them to be involved in government. That's what I got. Singapore. And so we have >> competition date which has not been decided yet. And then next Wednesday we have the prom committee. It'll be during set and then that's open to any juniors and seniors. And last but not least, on the 25th, we have DECA hosting districts. So that be fun to see. >> Wow, there's a lot going on. >> That's great. Now, you had me at pet when you said, was it pet fair for the for the uh fundraiser? >> Pep fest. >> Pepfest. >> Pep fest. I thought she said pet. I just lost me. Yeah, my pets. >> Do not bring your pets. >> All right, puppies. Bring your puppies to school. What do I say? Okay. All right. Anything else from our board? All right. We'll move to adjournment. Can I get a motion? So, move by Forsberg, second by Skellyy to adjourn our meeting at 8:12. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Meeting is adjourned. >> Thank you everyone.