7 o'clock. Uh if you could please join us for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for its oneis. >> Welcome everybody. Welcome. Uh we're going to start with the agenda approval. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda as presented? >> So second motion by Schmidt, second by Mlen. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion passes. Moving on to some future events. Please check the district website for a complete list of monthly events. Thursday, December 24th through January 2nd, no school and DSC and childcare hours are listed on the district website. Tuesday, January 13th, we have a school board organizational and regular meeting at 7 PM with communication to the board and administration at 6:45. Moving on to the consent agenda. Can I get a motion? Motion by Forsber, second by Skellyy to approve the items of the consent agenda, including minutes of the November 11 regular meeting, bills paid for October 2025 in amounts totaling 6,288,776 and personnel items. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. All right, motion passes. Moving on to presentations, special guests, and recognitions. We have a big one tonight. Recognition of 2025 Spring Lake Park High School football team. John Stewart, head coach. Welcome everybody. We are so happy to have you here. It's It's very very kind of you to all take time. >> Yeah. You don't have like a PowerPoint or anything? I'm just kidding. Um, so yes. And okay. Um, it's been a quite a fall. I mean, if you can, you know, when you teach at the high school and your entire season lasts the whole first trimester, that's a pretty sweet deal. Yeah. >> Um, I think in addition to to a state championship, which is awesome. There are a number of things we're proud of, right? We had a first homecoming win since 2019. um for the first time in my career, so eight years as a head coach, we earned the academic gold award from the coaches association. So I think our team GPA was 3.29. And then for the first time, >> I went back 10 plus years. Uh we had a player, he's here tonight, Brandon Hemquist, was named uh to the individual academic all-state team with a crazy GPA. We're uh certainly proud of of the on the- field accomplishments, but the off the- field accomplishments as well. We talk about our program mission is to bring honor to the team, the school, and the community. And I think this is a depth fall where we came through on a lot of those things and hope that we can continue to uh as we go through the rest of the school year. So, we're we're super proud of those things. We're amazed by the support in our community. I think I've said it other things that I our crowd had to be the biggest in both the semi-final and final. and to see a community come together and do that was amazing. So, we're proud of what they did there and excited for what comes for their futures. >> Definitely. >> Well, congratulations. Our community is so so proud. Yes. If anyone wants to speak, please come up. But our community is so so proud of you guys. >> Thank you for all the excitement. >> Yeah. I would just say it's just it's just such an honor to bring so much pride to our school program and community. I mean, it's just so cool seeing how much support there is in the community and how many people are reaching out to us that we don't even know and they're just so supportive and they're just congratulating us. It's just uh so awesome to know that that many people care for us. But yeah, for this last season, it all started with the vision last year about this time at the banquet. Um, I gave a speech and I said that we would uh uh this is our year to take what uh what we've been dreaming about for all all of our lives, which is a state championship title. And so I I said that's our goal this year. And so then started then and then we last year we got in the weight room right away just disciplined. everybody was lifting harder than they've ever lifted before and and putting the work in in the off seasonason so we could be where we needed to be for this season. And then so that vision we just carried along and we did what we needed to do each and every practice lift and uh as much studying in the playbook as we needed to. And so yeah, just the little details we uh played and we executed like a championship team this year. And so that's just the results of every single uh piece of work that we put into this and now it's just so awesome to bring that to our school and program. >> Yes. >> So I know you have one extra proud board member up here. You can Can you share your name just so that everybody >> Yeah. I'm Kate Skellyy in this my >> I'm going to Yeah. Go ahead. >> I thought it was kind of fun seeing the pyramid that you give the kids at the beginning of every season. and I've seen it with three other children as well. But it was fun to see that pyramid and then have it up on the wall with kind of check marks by it that all of those things were accomplished. Um just the hard work and knowing this group and seeing how you really did play for each other. I think that's always the challenge you can have athletes. But if they don't play for each other, you're never going to win. So it was really fun to watch this come come to fruition and for me to be able to end with my last one like this, too. So thanks so much for that, guys. I'm gonna um have others have comments if they want, but just so you can be recognized for those who are here, would you guys mind just coming up and telling us your name? Don't you don't have to say anything else if you don't want to. >> Uh my name is Braden. >> My name is Isaac Olsson. >> Oh, Melody wants to know your position, too. >> Uh my name is Ian Allen. I'm a quarterback. >> Uh Dolan Roach, quarterback. Colin Chucker, wide receiver and tight end. >> Colin Walsh. I was a quarterback, kick return, punt return. >> A little bit offensively. >> Josh Vano, quarterback. >> Say it again. Uh, Brian Hempist, uh, DN tight end. >> Nice. >> Isaac Olsson, D1. >> Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else have any other? >> Yeah. So, I went to Spring Lake Park High School, was a cheerleader for football on that 91 championship team. >> I'm going to age myself here. And my whole entire family was so proud because, you know, you have friends um on the team. You have you make friends with the coaches in the weight room even though you're a female. And they say it's once in a lifetime. And I was in 10th grade. Well, now my daughter's in 10th grade and my son's in ninth grade and they had the once in a lifetime chance to watch their high school team go to state as well. So, that's pretty cool. >> It's very cool. >> So, yeah. Or twice. I mean, next year, right, guys? >> No pressure. >> Yeah, no pressure. No pressure. Um, thank you so much. I know I've been seeing on social you guys have been on a road show between the different city halls and visiting and stuff. So, I hope you are enjoying the attention and all of the um bragging rights that you are welld deserved to have. >> One last thing, he did also. >> Yes, >> that's amazing. Congratulations. >> Yeah, I was going to ask uh I was going to ask you to share that, John, but since you brought that up because he he did get out of the Vikings game and got to be out of the field and get >> work the other week. Um for the week six I was coach of the week and then whoever decides that the Vikings coach of the year it will be fortunate to be in that pool and pretty excited to go down and go back and just a couple weeks ago I sent a picture of the young >> awesome >> the last thing I want to congratulate you oh go ahead Marilyn sorry >> I frequently said that one of the jobs of a school board member is to be a cheerleader for the district. You've made it really easy. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The last thing I want to congratulate you on is your commitment. I mean, I I know all of you talking to Melody and and talking to some of your parents how hard you guys have worked. This this doesn't just happen in one month, right, in in this season. It's like an entire year of effort. So, that takes a lot of perseverance. So, congratulations on that. >> Yeah. >> And I I know that I've sent messages to John. Has it been eight years you've been the head coach? >> Eight years. >> Eight years he's been the head coach. an assistant coach prior to that and I've always had fun coming and watching the team and when Jeff coached before you you but one of the things that I've always been so impressed by is not just that it's been a really successful program over the years winning and losing but the kids play with such class you know and even in the years where maybe and even just fundamentally it's just all the fundamentals you can see the kids do that so well and uh and there were um I think I got to all but two games this year and yes I drove all the way out to Buffalo That was a lot farther drive than I thought it was. But um and then up to Monosel and I think that was one of the most proud moments out of you guys is that that was one of the best games I've seen went overtime and when you stopped Alex at the one yard line to win the game to see so many of the players go and console the Alexandria kids before you were even celebrating with your own that says a lot about the program that that you built, John, and just makes me a lot of it makes me really proud. and I had a number of other administrators who were there from other school districts also saw it on TV that that reached out and just made comments about that. So, thanks for being it's awesome to win the state championship that was just a blast this fall. But over the years, it's been that kind I think it's that kind of character in the program that's led to this point. So, I did want to share this. This is going to be the new state championship banner that will be out at the football field and in the gym. So, that will be up. So, you get a chance to see that. It'll be posted. We'll get new ones for these other state championships that we've had as well over the years. So, >> you'll have that uh legacy for yourselves when you come back to stadium and it won't be all the way back to 91 anymore. It will be nice to have the uh uh 2025 one up there. So, >> thank you guys for coming for Have a good night. Thank you. Awesome. All right. All right. Moving on to the 2025 budget and property taxes payable 2026 presentation, which is also our truth and taxation hearing. Miss Amy Schultz. >> Amy always gets follow the best. >> I know. She always follows these big presentations. >> You guys already making fun of me, but now this time I get to follow the state championship football team. It just gets a little bit worse. >> I know it's every time. But this is a really exciting meeting. We get to cover three different fiscal years of finances over the next three presentations. So a lot of numbers today. So we will try to go through them pretty quick. So um each year we have our annual truth and taxation hearing meeting. So that is what we are here to do tonight. Um this is required by the state of Minnesota that we hold this specific meeting. Um, so we will see a lot of this on the upcoming slides, but one thing with the state of Minnesota, it is highly regulated when it comes to how we receive our revenue and how it is calculated. And so we'll talk a little bit about a couple of those as we go through. Um, but what the state does is it many different calculations over a 39 page quite ugly document is it calculates each different component of the levy. Um and then with that that is the most that we are allowed to levy under any of those components. We have the ability to levy less. Often that comes with giving up some state aid at the same time. Um but what the state does is it caps the amount that we are allowed to do. So one other piece to that is the counties also play a significant part in how taxes are calculated and that they set the property values. Um schools do not set your values. Obviously the county does that. Um, and while schools have very few taxes that are based on the value, it does determine how much you pay compared to other homeowners and property owners in the district. Um, so with that, in the meeting tonight, we are really required to present two things. One of those is the current year budget, which the board has heard a lot about over the last six months, so we'll go through that quick. as well as the proposed levy um that we are asking the board to approve later on tonight. Um and then any changes like significant changes on this year's levy compared to last year's. So with that, like I said, we will run through this year's budget very quickly. This is the original budget that was approved by the school board back in June. Uh no changes have been made to this since that time. Although we are anticipating revisions to be coming to the school board over the next couple of months based on things that we have become aware of since that time, whether it's a new grant, change in federal funding or slightly more students than we had projected when we started the school year. So with that, you'll see a little bit more about the budget on the next few slides. Um with that, the first one is a pie chart of all of our funds. So this is the general fund, food, community service, um as well as debt. And you can see how general fund is the majority of the budget, which is why we spend a lot of time talking to that one specifically with the school board. Um so with that, that is 82% of our total district's budget. And the general fund pays for things like our operating capital when we are buying desks and chairs um as well as supplies, our teacher salaries, um our buses, salaries of our professionals, custodians, all of that. So when we look at the general fund, it really is when people think of schools most of those expenses. Um our next biggest fund is our debt service fund. So much like a household budget has your mortgage often as a large part of your budget, schools have the same thing. So the bonds that we have issued over time, voter approved bonds to build our schools, we are paying back the principal and interest on those. So that is the next largest component at 8% of our total district budget. And the other two of those are 4% both community service and food service. On the expenditure side, uh you can see again general fund is that largest part and with the exact same percentages as on the revenue side. So 82% to general fund, 4% to each of the smaller operating funds, and 8% to our debt service. Um, so again, that's where most of these expenses fall. So we won't cover that in a lot more detail. When we speak to the general fund specifically, so not including debt service, food or community services, you can see we are primarily financed by the state through state aids and grants. Um and so on that it's about 78% of our revenue in the general fund comes from state aids. 16% comes from our property tax levy and that is between those two a 1% change from last year. So when even when we consider that we passed an operating referendum it still only changed it by 1% as a shift over to levy. So with that when you're talking about $97 million that you know it just doesn't change the percentage between those very much. Um then outside of that the other percentages are um 3% to federal that has gone down over the years as we've had some of our co grants and all of those expire as well as 2% in interest and 1% to other. On the expense side, these again will kind of mirror a little bit what we see on the revenue side. Compensation is the largest percentage of our budget. Um, and that is not surprising. We are a very peopleheavy industry. Um, most of that being our teachers and then outside of that is also all of our custodians and um, administrators, pair professionals, athletics and activities. So with that, when we speak to compensation, that includes salary and benefits. And when we've done this in order to compare a little bit more to other school districts, we have added in an amount that we would estimate we would be paying um for bus drivers if we were doing it that way as well, if we had them in house. Um so with that, we've reduced the purchase services number and increased the compensation by that amount. And so with that, again, it's about 77%. um purchase services. Again, then a lot of that comes down to um either contractors that we have hired. Sometimes we need to purchase special education staff through other organizations. Busing is one of our largest expenses within that as well as our utilities. So, with that, as we reviewing, we mentioned we will be looking to come back to the school board for revisions yet this school year. Uh we will be doing that sometime prior to June. that is required to change the budget um in the current year. June 30th is our the end of our fiscal year. So we will be doing that sometime over the next couple of months. So our actual property tax levy calendar. So we started talking about our levy last summer. Um and with that we are required to submit data to the department of education. They take that data put it into their system. Um, and then with that, they kind of put out that first initial run of what our property tax lean might look like. The school board approved that preliminary version back in September that was then sent on to the county. Um, and then the county at that time sent out the proposed property tax statements to our residents. In the meantime, we passed an operating referendum. Those amounts were not on the proposed levies, and it states right on there that if the district was successful, those will show up on the final. Um and then here tonight we are back to the school board to approve the final property tax levy. This is for taxes that will be collected in the calendar year of 2026 and it's revenue to the school district in 202627 school year. So how components are calculated? I mentioned earlier that each one of the components that you'll see on here has different factors that go into how it's calculated. Many of them are based on the number of students we have times a funding amount per student. And so that is how we get most of them. A handful of them are done based on actual expenditures. Uh one of those being uh reemployment insurance. So unemployment insurance, those are one of those things that it's based we make an estimate. It's adjusted later based on actual, but it's not based on property value. It's not based on the number of students you have. And then the final one is based on property values. That is our capital projects levy that we have that funds a lot of our technology. Um, that one is based solely on a rate factor times the value of property. Um, so levy amounts within each category can fluctuate year-to-year and it's going to be a combination of enrollment that we bring in, but the calculation itself can also change. An example of that, and we can we'll talk to it a little bit later, is our equity revenue that takes how much we as a school district get in operating revenue. It compares us to other metro school districts, places us within a spot in the calculation and says, "Okay, the state now will give you x amount in addition to that because you are really low. If you're on the higher end, you don't receive that." So, I mean, there's so many different calculations that are based on more than just the number of students we have. And in those cases, it not only depends on where we sit, but where all of our neighbors sit as well. And so, with that, there is also something called equalization. And if you are a district that has lower property value than other districts, um there's a couple calculations and a just a few of the levy categories where if your property values per student or you know it's a little bit different for each one is less than different factors and calculations they have set, the state will take a portion of what you would levy and give you state aid instead. So it reduces your property at tax levy and it increases the aid you receive. So, it's a bonus to your taxpayers to have their taxes reduced. Um, over the years, we have seen that change. The state has not increased part of that factor enough to go up with rising values. So, the amount that the state has kicked in over the years has decreased. So, as we look at our total levy by fund, you can see there's the three funds that we levy taxes for. uh nutrition service is not one of those that we receive any dollars for which is why you don't see that on here. So within that is our general fund, our community service and our debt service funds. Uh the total increase in our levy went up 14.5%. Um prior to the operating levy passing that was 045. So um the operating levy passing was obviously a significant portion of that increase and we will see that on the next slide. So this is just reflecting our general fund changes. Um there are really three of them that kind of stand out a little bit either by dollar amount or percentage. So one of those is the local optional revenue and that is one it's not a very big dollar amount. Um if I'm looking at sorry wrong one referendum authority that one obviously it was the passing of the operating referendum and so with that we would expect to see that one increase. That is not a surprise. Our equity revenue then that we just spoke about a minute ago because now our revenue per student has gone up. Uh while we are still very low compared to the metro area, we are higher than we were prior to November. So with that, we do lose a little bit of equity revenue because of that. So that's why you see the decrease to that component. Um and then outside of that, what you can see down below, um unemployment is a very small dollar amount. It looks like a high percentage amount. That again is the amount that we levy based on the unemployment expenses we expect to pay. Um we have seen that increase but with that if it comes in lower than that it will be a credit on future levies. So speaking to kind of that most significant change obviously that was due to the successful operating referendum um we did see voters approved an increase of $550 per pupil. Uh that starts with this next calendar year then. So taxes payable in 2026 at a cost of about $18 a month for an average home value. I know we just heard that our values have increased and that just came in in the last couple of days. It will bring it down. If you're looking at an average house, it'll probably bring it down about a dollar, but that's still bringing it down. So it should be actually just slightly less than what we had um known at the time. Uh so this funding will be realized starting the 202627 school year and go for three years. Um starting with taxables payable in 2029. The voters improve that second bump to the levy of another $330. There will not be a tax impact when that one hits because we timed that additional bump to coincide with the payment of debt that will fall off of our tax roles in that same year. The other change that you will see on each of these funds is abatements and adjustments. And so these are year-to-year. They can be big swings and they can be small swings. Um the adjustments are those categories. So we talk about the calculations for each of these levy components. And then we do these I mean this is for a school year that doesn't start for seven months yet. So it is our best estimate as to the number of kids we will have and what our expenses will be. So now if you fast forward about two and a half years from now, the state will finalize that 20267 school year and then they will go back and readjust all of those components and say, "Okay, this one was over, this one was under." And so we see both positive and negative adjustments yeartoear based on our estimates now compared to where those are actually landing uh once all final data is in, which takes about nine months after a school year finishes. Um, on the abatement side, this reflects property values where the county, if somebody has asked for an evaluation of their property value by the county. If the county reduces their value, um, the properties have already been spread the taxes. So, by the time that that is done by the county, um, we have already set our levy and it has been spread to homeowners. So, if they get a reduction, theirs will fall down. But all that means is they're not going to pay it. So then we don't collect that revenue. Um, in order to hold the school district harmless, they take that money and they put it back into the pool the following year. So with that, we don't lose by when somebody has their value decreased. Um, it just gets added to the following year's tax. Uh, both the community service fund and the debt service fund had very small changes when you look at overall dollars and percentages. So we will not spend a lot of time going into those. Again, adjustments and abatements land on each of these next two slides. Um, on the debt service one, you can see that the adjustments are actually quite a large number. This is due to we are required to collect 105% of our principal and interest payments that we are expected to make. It's just a state rule to make sure we can make those payments on a cash flow basis. Um, and then when each year they re-evaluate how much we should be kind of keeping off to the side for that and anything above that they take back out as an adjustment. So we see that most years as well. So our last few slides market changes over time. Uh you can see where we sit. Um this last year was the largest year that we have had to date at 5.8 billion within our school district. Um going back to that first year on the slide in 2005 it was 2.9 our smallest year was 2.5 million in the middle there for 2013. So since that time in 20 yep 13 we have more than doubled our value within the district. Some of that is individual parcels and values going up. Uh the rest of that is growth within the school district where we've had new construction. If anybody is looking for tax relief, there are a few avenues that some of our residents will qualify. So, one of those is a circuit breaker refund. Another is a special property tax refund and a senior citizen property tax deferral. The deferral program will not reduce your taxes, but it would allow you to pay them over a longer period of time. We're not going to give any tax advice on this. So, please, if you believe you might qualify, contact your tax professional and they will help you through that. So, our last slide here then is that we want to make sure that our property owners know we do everything we can to keep their property taxes down. So, as we look at this over the last 15 years, um we have reduced the amount that we would have been levying by almost $15 million. um not on an annual basis but over that time. Um so one of the things we do similar to refinancing your home mortgage we refund bonds. So we issue bonds at a time when we were doing buildings if rates go down and we are able to take advantage of lower interest rates we refund them. And so with that then we take advantage of it. It saves money on the amount we're paying in principal and interest. So really what that does is it reduces the amount that we would levy tonight. Um, so with that, we did just do one last month that saved in future payments $1.5 million. And so that's an amount that over the the last 10 years of that bond, we will not be levying for. So the savings do go directly back to our property owners. And that is something we will continue to look at opportunities to do. So, one last requirement for tonight is that we have to open up um the meeting to any public comments if anybody wishes to make a comment during the meeting. >> Anybody public comments going >> all right? So, that is all I have. If the board has any questions, any questions or comments from the board? >> No questions. But Amy, thank you to you and your team who stays on top of all of these moving parts, all of these moving dates, all of the formulas that go under the formulas that go under the formulas. It's impressive. So, um, there are school districts around us that are in real tough shape right now. and we are fortunate to not only not be one of them, but to be very fiscally responsible and very much seeing um the u opportunities and the bumps that might come along and get in front of them before they happen. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Um although it's not part of this, I think it's important that our public knows that we have received awards for excellence in accounting and that we also have had clean audits over the past few years. So that puts us in a good stance. >> Just going to segue. >> Excellent segue. Excellent segue. >> Thank you, Marilyn. Um, all right. We will move on then to our annual comprehensive financial report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Miss Amy Schultz and Mr. Erin Nielsen. Welcome. >> Welcome back, I should say. >> Yeah, I feel like I've been doing this a really long time. And Mr. Nielsen has been doing this presentation here in Spring Lake Park longer than I have. So, um, he's very familiar with our school and has been doing our audit for, I want to say, probably close to 20 years. Um, so one of the things that within our business department and when it comes to the audit, I really have to thank Chris McGree. He does most of the work when it comes to the audit and coordinating it and getting everything together. Um, I kind of swoop in at the end and do a few things, but he really does most of the work and works with other departments um, such as um, Hulron, her department within innovation learning. They do a great job of tracking all of our federal grants and working um with our department on that. So it is certainly something that is not just a business office effort. We rely on a lot of other people to help us prepare it. So uh with that Erin Nielsen is from LB Carlson uh which used to be in Baloy Monu Kernowski Rasovich. This was a change in the past year as they merged. So, uh, with that, he's a partner with that firm who are our independent auditors, and they performed our audit again this year. I'm going to let him do the presentation, and if you have any questions for us at the end, we're happy to answer them. So, >> well, thank you very much. I appreciate the chance to be here, and Miss Forsber did the perfect lead in for that. Was excellent. Um, it's nice I'm not stealing the thunder of the award, so I'm glad you did that. Um, so as mentioned, my name is Aaron Nielsen. We're with LB Carlson. Um, we merged as of January 1st, so I'm getting used to the new name. It's been 30 years I was with the previous company. So, um, but LB Carlson's easier than spitting out the four names I did before. Um, so with that, we have three reports for you this evening. Um, as mentioned, you do the annual comprehensive financial reporter act for you've received the award for the past 19 years. Is it? So, this was a one we had to double check to make sure we get that 20-year mark with the award and make sure we're not missing anything. So, um, we believe it's been completed in a manner that'll allow you to receive that award for the year ended June 30th, 2025. So, um, tonight I know you're getting a lot of financial information. I get to be the one who looks backwards in time and, um, know that there are challenges keeping it all straight. So, with that, I'll move pretty quickly through the PowerPoint presentation. You've received three documents. I'm sure your acter is 150 pages or so overall. So, there's a lot of information there. I'll spare the public that one tonight. And, um, just hit some summaries that we have. We've got your special purpose reports for required reporting uh we've completed and then we've got the management report that we use to summarize our audit results. So with that I'll get to it. Uh our role as independent auditors to provide you that opinion on the acter that financial statements. Uh as you can see we're pleased to report we have issued what is known as an unmodified or clean opinion on the basic financial statements. So as of June 30th, 2025, that financial position is fairly presented as of that date and uh results of operations for the year then ended. Uh you'll notice we have a a point noted there of implementation of another Gazsby standard or governmental accounting standards board requirements. So um this one was 101. So we've, you know, continued to keep moving up in numbers. I think I was close to 27 when I started in public accounting and where we're at. So they keep adding them at a faster pace just like everything else in the world. I think uh internal controls and compliance for the financial audit under government auditing standards that you're required to follow. Uh we're pleased to report we had no material weaknesses with that testing and no instances of non-compliance to report. The next slide I have is the reports uh required under the Minnesota legal compliance guides. So there's seven broad categories and within each of them there's many additional requirements there. And we're pleased to report we have just one binding with regard to all seven areas. And then within there um one of the sections is even miscellaneous provisions. so they can capture anything in statute that they want to specifically have us be testing as part of that audit process. So the only comment we had for this year's audit is the uh requirement of timely payment of invoices or the requirement to pay interest. So um you didn't incur any interest payments. We found two of the 25 we specifically tested. Um I really there's I don't want to make it a piece of alarm because it's quite common we run into that one. Um sometimes there's challenges when people are away from their desk over the summer and when those invoices come. But uh we want to be transparent and share that with you and trust that you'll work to correct that with our next audit and we'll review that specifically. uh the federal single audit. You here you'll see that uh the with the closure of the federal government, they didn't get the compliance supplement issued uh in a timely manner. Um fortunately, that's not due until March 31st, 2026. Anyway, there's a nine-month deadline for that. So, um the supplement has since been released and we're confident we'll be able to complete that and issue that report prior to the deadline. My next slide uh focuses on the uh enrollment and I realize I'm simply sharing the information you've sat through and other presentations but u hopefully helpful for the public and the community that um looks and monitors school district information. Um the as we've talked about state sources being the key component where you get your resources and I'll have a slide that shows you for this year as well. uh the average daily membership is a key component of how you receive your funding. So based on the student counts and the students that you serve. Uh as you can see in the early years of this 10-year history uh you had been seeing some growth in the community which then generates additional revenue. Uh you were fortunate to run a period of relatively flat enrollment. We I think most my districts would prefer to be slightly growing because it generates just enough growth and you can be mindful in that planning. Um but as you can see and I know you've had studies and review that uh you see a slight decrease in that enrollment uh when we compare from 24 to 25 and uh as you know the challenges with that is the the loss of students hasn't come in one area so you can easily make adjustments for that. uh it can be spread across the district. Our next slide I have for you is looking at the financial trends of your general fund. Um and I should remind you, you know, our role as independent auditors is to be conservative. So you don't get the rahrrah speech when I come up and it's really a focus of where the comments are concerns and findings. Um but I I do like to share when we see as you can see your financial position here. We've got the financial position trend analysis. We use three key factors to monitor your uh the districts that we work with ensure that the cash and investment balance, unrestricted fund balance, and then expenditures. So, as the size of your operation grows, the required amount of equity you'd need to operate from uh day-to-day perspective would grow as well. Uh as you can see, you've had a stable financial position for many years um with your strong budgetary controls managing that. Uh one thing I noted and I wanted to point out, you can see um where that yellow bar and the blue bar have tended to be very consistent across the the each of the years. This latest year in 2025, you see a reduction in with a decrease in overall unrestricted I think is what we're showing here. unrestricted fund balance within the general fund. Uh, however, you don't see kind of that same matching with the cash balance. And it really is just that point in time we've grabbed your resources and you're required to close your books as of June 30th. And so there was a one-time capital plan purchase of assigned resources that you had that the expenditure occurred as of year end. Uh, thereby reducing the available resources as planned. Um, however, the cash payment hasn't occurred. So just a timing thing that in July or August the actual payment in cash probably uh went out the door and matched up then closer to where that ending equity is. Looking a little deeper at the fund balance of the general fund with the slide that we have up here before you. Uh we look at the components of equity for the general fund. non-spendable being resources that uh inventory prepaid dollars that you've already had to purchase in advance that will be used but you couldn't reappropriate them. They're already received those resources for what uh you will be using them. Uh restricted resources, you can see there was an increase this past year. Uh those dollars are uh resources you receive with specific requirements on how you can use them. So the restriction on uh the ability to use them across the school district's needs. Uh there were some new categorical uh requirements and new funds that districts received this past year. Uh the biggest change the one I was going to note was the decrease you see in that assigned fund balance and that goes right along with the last slide I shared with you. uh some assigned dollars that you had been mindful and planning for uh for a one-time purchase and a planned reduction in your uh equity as of June 30th at year end. So you can see that change from the prior year and then your unassigned fund balance a slight decrease from the prior year in that category as well. Um really we show the unrestricted the fund balance percentages. I know I've commented for many years you've continued to meet your fund balance policy and managing that in that unassigned category. I believe your fund balance policy is a minimum of a two months of expenditures which is quite a common uh fund balance policy that we see GFO or ASBO providing that um as your auditor I can't tell you what you should use but uh it's important to have that target so you know what you're planning for and mindful of. Um, but as you can see, you're getting close to that. And what does two months mean? Well, we kind of look at it as a, you know, 212%. So, you know, 16.7%. So, um, I don't panic because you're at 17% or meeting that percentage. And, and I shouldn't say panic, it would be just sharing it with you, pointing out uh, where you're at with that level so you can uh, plan to hit your targets as you desire. I gota remember to hit the slide as I'm talking here. Uh general fund revenues. So looking at the resources. So I know this is probably pretty consistent uh information from what you we just saw in the last presentation except looking two years out, right? The um you were looking at your current operation year with the plan for the following fiscal year. Um this would look back at 2425 school year. Uh as you can see those components of revenues um kind of lumping them in four broad categories taxes state a deeds federal and then all other sources and you can see that all other sources is a very small component of your revenues at 4.6%. Uh federal at 2.6% uh state sources this past year at 78.4% and property taxes at 14.4%. uh just for the size of your operation uh for Spring Lake Park Schools and all your buildings, the revenues this past year total $93.2 million. Uh and you came again very close to what was anticipated in the budget, within 1% or actually 0.6% of what was projected in that final budget or slightly overbudget as conservative accountants like to see. over budget on the revenue and under budget on the expend expenditures. Um what's been unusual with the pandemic as you can see uh this past year uh your student counts went down so that uh drove revenues down a little bit but your federal resources went down um with the end of those pandemic dollars. So it's been important and some school districts have struggled with that. Uh you were very mindful in how you were going to use those federal dollars. So, okay, how are we going to replace those when we get to the end of that cycle? Um, so you can see overall your revenues were actually less than the prior year with a slight decrease. Um, state sources went up with some funding improvements and special ed general education dollars, but the federal sources reduction more than offset that. The next slide I have is very similar from a presentation perspective. A budget to actual to prior year. You can see you see very little differentiation between the budget and the actual columns looking side by side which is challenging when you're looking at a budget where salaries and benefits salaries alone are $50 million. So, um, but overall salaries and benefits for the general fund accounted for 66 or almost 67% 66.8%. See, it's a problem with accountants. You got to get right to that tenth of a percent. Um, but making up a majority of the spending in the general fund to educate students and and that again isn't alarming. the previous presentation mentioned that, but that's common to what we see with districts we work with and where dollars are spent. Um, so you can see that your expenditures this past year in the general fund uh totaled about 100 million and $500,000, so a little over a hundred million this last year uh coming in under budget uh with an increase over the prior year level. So, you approved an increase enhancements you can see in salaries and benefits. Uh, your salaries and benefits came in incredibly close for the overall total there, just slightly over what was anticipated. But I would say uh those budgetary controls were working this past year and uh coming in less than the appropriations um really matching what you have for salaries and benefits. But timing with capital when when your supplies will come in can have an impact on uh those salaries and benefits. And that's where you've set resources aside for one-time costs when you've had some of those adjustments which has been important. and we're staring at with your revenues at such a high percentage of the budget. Um what do the forecasts mean? And it's important to stay in tune with that fund balance policies and monitoring those. Um as your revenue sources become less uh concrete and you're comfortable with them, that's sometimes where you have to monitor the is our fund balance level sufficient? Can we count on it? Property taxes tend to be a very stable source. Um but that's our second component of revenue in the general fund and quite a far stretch from where our first component is of stadium sources. I just got a couple more slides for you. So, shifting gears to the other operating funds as we share with you um we would say the food service special revenue fund, the community service special revenue fund. Uh as you can see this past year when you look at the sheer dollars they each saw just a slight decrease in that ending equity. Uh the food service fund has had a healthy financial position for several years and you know I I was reflecting with what comment do I make on the community service fund and I've kind of sometimes been on my soap box of oh you need to build a fund balance but I you've done a good job of balancing where you where that fund balance is but it is important to know it's a lean operation so if if you see a surprise in the community service fund you're going to have to look to other places to resources to replenish that. It might be an increase in fees, which um I used to get very, you know, concerned of where their equity was, but there's important things in the ongoing in the community service fund with um preschool programs and things like that that get the students into your building. So, I I had to be educated on that a little bit to realize the bigger picture. So, um, but it is important to know that you can see your community service fund is running right at a break even operation with minimal equity, uh, as of year end with $4,000 of fund balance. Um, bottom line. And then my last slide, uh, we look at your internal service funds. So, uh, you have two internal service funds that you've used to manage and hopefully, uh, be able to achieve the best, uh, insurance rates possible using a dental insurance, self- insurance, and a health insurance fund. And, uh, this one's gotten pretty personal to me of our own business and the rate increases we've seen and a big spike uh, that we're sharing or looking at for next year for our employees and ourselves as users of that. um similar to what I've seen with other school districts and uh you know the medical improvements have been incredible and benefit of my family for sure but as you can see the the rising cost of that has also becoming a a key factor in what that cost is to the annual budget every year. So, uh, this past year, you can see the combined of the two internal service funds and by far the health benefit claims well outweigh the dental, uh, 8.4 million compared to $600,000. Um, you can see the costs for both of them have been climbing over each of the past couple of years that we show here. Um, I I don't want to speak to previous years that I don't have in front of me. Um, but as you can see, you went from just two years ago in 23 with a almost break even operation to this past year where you see a 1.7 million decrease in the resources. So, um, again, not anything that really gets me alarmed for you. That can be one-time things. Some unusual circumstances that cause a spike in claims and you have sufficient reserves at the at the point time we're looking at here. Um, but you can see if if that trend continued where 1.6, it'd take you only about two and a half years and you'd have no one net position in in your self- insurance fund. So, um, again for the school board and I'm sure those that are involved, this is just repeating what they are well aware of. Um, but managing the rates and the costs of health insurance are a big part of your your budget as well as you can see at the 8.4 four million or overall about $9 million in those internal service funds. So, so I I hope it didn't come off as a bleak presentation. Bottom line, I'm I'm very pleased with the operating results. You've managed to, you know, really meet the goals that you had with the budget process coming in close to the revenues and expenditures and the two funds that saw a dip in fund balance. they were basically anticipating almost break even operations and they were just minor uh decreases. So it it really ended where you were anticipating with the budget process but um we really don't as auditors go into the whole uh where we had our grading system. So I'm beating you the punch on that. How would you grade us? So um with that if there's any questions I'd be happy to try to answer them. Uh there's a lot of information in annual comprehensive financial report if you wanted a quick snapshot. The MDNA in the annual comprehensive report is meant to be a more less technical a little more easier terms to be able to get an understanding of school finance. So with that, >> what is your crystal ball saying about paid leave and benefits? Um I think it you know I really um I'll fall back to I get to look backwards in my life has been looking backwards quite a bit uh with the school district audit season but just discussing with my clients is going to be the how do we budget and what's going to be the impact of that and as people take time off and the additional you know the people I'm talking to are all conservative accountants of course I'll start with that. But um the concerns of people taking time off and the ability of the benefit, which is great, but how do we make sure we have people in the classrooms and and cover the needs of, you know, in the classrooms beyond just the teachers? It's it's all areas of safety, support, bus drivers, everything. So I you know I it's a good benefit helpful for them but I I think it can cost them you know it's going to be a new balancing act for um administrators budget managers and so on to make sure hey we're not going to have any surprises we can't manage >> well we all know that the fiscal health of our district is such an important part of you know the the experience for our kids. It's a huge um piece of delivering the education experience we want to do. So, I'm very proud of Amy and her team. We have had such great fiscal health in this district for so long. And thank you to you for coming back every year and doing a presentation for us. Audits are also an important part of that. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. And I I did note and I didn't miss it, of course, is to thank the staff. I mean, I get the opportunity to talk to Chris and Amy, but our audit process goes well beyond just those two individuals and and the success of your budget. It's critical the people that manage it and the budget managers staying within those boundaries that you provide them. So, um the sing gets outside of finance and probably their least favorite part when they see us pick their program for testing, but it's part of the job. Yeah. So, they're involved. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. I was just gonna say You know, you talked about us looking backwards and I think looking backwards is important because that's how we learn um as we're planning to look forward and I think as you're giving this a presentations, one of the things I thought about this year um is the first time going into a legislative session and and looking forward where it's a very different future we're looking at than it has been in previous years. Um the future looked a little more positive um as we looked at state forecasts and things like that. that I was just in a meeting with um superintendents from across the metro area just last week and we're talking about the um state blue ribbon task force looking at special ed because they've been charged with cutting $250 million across the state special ed. And what we learned that day is the most likely cut for that is going to be um ASIS um which is alternative delivery of special um special education instructional services and it's basically to prevent special education among students. So, we have a lot of our academic specialists and extra positions like that. We have over 1.2 million about $1.2 million in ESIS grants in our district that would go away if they follow through on that. Um, in addition to that, they're looking at compensatory and we could see upwards of a million dollars in a reduction there. So, while it looks like we're sitting really good there, that can catch up with us really quick when you can see those reductions. So, um, what I felt good about is talking to these other superintendents. A lot of districts were looking at what are the reductions they have to make this spring. They don't have any cushion to be able to say, "Let's wait and see what happens." They're going to make reductions before they know. We're not going to have to do that because if those reductions do happen, um we've we've got some resources to help us be more planful with, okay, how do we address that? Um which is which is really important. And then also if they don't do it, we haven't made something that then okay, it was one year kids don't get that. So, I think it's really important that we look back, but it's also as we're looking back right now, it's a it's a different future we're looking at that we're going to have to be very um careful with. >> Yes, >> absolutely. I think that becomes the difference at the having that fund balance situation is the stability you can provide and weather the storms of a, you know, hopefully a short-term situation. We're back to that other outlook. But, you know, sometimes they take longer and we've been through that before, too. >> Yeah. you know, long-term challenging runs. But, um, that that's the difficulty once you get over that edge and your fund balance is declining. How do you turn reverse the trend and build it up? And what's your goal all the time is just managing let's keep it a pretty stable operation so the kids don't feel it. >> Yeah. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thanks for being here. >> All right. Moving on to discussion reports and information items. Start with effective operations. Improve our effective management of human, financial, and physical resources. We'll start with our monthly financial report for October 2025. Miss Amy Schultz, we're doing the present now. >> I know we Well, yeah, we've gone forwards, went backwards. Now, we're going to talk about our current fiscal year. And I will make this one really fast. Uh the board sees these reports each month, so they're very familiar with them. This first one is the cash basis report for our district which shows our beginning and ending cash balance for the month of October as well as the cash receipts and dispersements. Most of the receipts that we have that come in in October are one of our larger property tax payments. They come in in October and November and then again in April and May. So October was a big month for that. Um as well as three and a half to four million dollars in state aids as well. um on the dispersement side, a little higher than what we would typically see, but we're still paying off some of that summer work with some of our contractors as well. So, we're seeing that um ending cash at about 68 million on our statement of revenues. This is our cash basis report that shows our month-to-ate revenues, our year-to- date revenues, uh our approved budget back in June, um and then where we sit as a percentage of that budget through October and where we sat the past two years in October as well. Uh you can see we're just slightly ahead of where we were within the general fund budget compared to the last couple of years. Uh some of that is just, you know, kind of how we budgeted with the student enrollment that we had. We are slightly ahead of what we projected. Um, so with that, while we're not back up to where we were last year necessarily, we are ahead of what we had projected as a decrease. So with that and having reported new numbers to the state, we are seeing um staying a little bit ahead of where we had initially projected. Um, within our other funds, we're very similar to where we have been in previous years. And then on the expense side, there's nothing really that stands out here other than when you look back to more the 2022 23 to 24 school year. um that one we had just a couple categories that were a little uh less than or more than depending on which one you're looking at um within our other expenses in 2024. We've had just a couple contracts that we've had the last couple of years with that um talking points some pieces like that that have made that category more than what it would have been two years ago. Um even though as a total we've remained pretty similar. So when you see that it's more of a reallocation of resources more so than an addition of money. So on the food service side we are down a couple or percentage wise it looks like we're down. Uh 2023 24 is when the free meals kicked in and nobody really knew what to expect. So with that it was probably some conservative budgeting um and revenue coming in faster than what we had anticipated. So that is what we have for the month of October. If there are any questions, any questions? Enough numbers for me. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. We're moving on to the superintendent report. >> All right. So, I'll wait for Brandon to pull that up. So, it's a lot of fun uh information that I get to share. So, instead of talking about budget at all. So, first off, we got to hear from our state champions. So, again, this just made this fall a blast. Um some pictures I'll give you a moment to look at from the game that was probably the most fun of those two games down at US Bank Stadium was uh looking up and just it was unbelievable the number of people there. It was pretty cool. >> There's just so many people there. Our football team wasn't the only one that got to play at US Bank, though. Our uh fifth grade Panther football team also played at US Bank. They played the Victor of the Vikings mascot game, and uh those mascots do not take it easy on the fifth graders. They kind of take them out a few times. Um but so that was a highlight for those kids. So, Panthers were featured uh kind of throughout the month of November. Yep. So, SPM Fire uh had a special visit to our early childhood center. Students got the 360 tour. So, so it's amazing what a fire truck does for kids. So, it's pretty cool. >> Early childhood families had their annual carnival. Again, this just an amazing program. It's always fun to see the kids and families there. This one's kind of fun. seventh grade students engineered cars powered entirely by a single mouse trap. So >> I wish I would have been there to see that. >> Yeah. >> So >> and there was a STEM challenge over at Westwood. So using only straws and tape, fifth graders attempted to build the tallest freestanding tower that could uh support a styrofoam cup. So was happening recently. The SLP experience recently came out. It includes a feature on some of the furniture that was implemented this fall. It's one of those expenses Aaron was just talking about in his presentation. Um, so it's been fun to see how that's being used throughout the district. We had our winter market where some of our youngest kids got to shop for presents for their families. I also had a chance to make crafts for their families or themselves and then also get to eat. Of course, the highlight is always Parker the Panther. It's there. Um, this is pretty cool. The story that they found kind the kindness rocks. So, an ongoing effort to promote empathy, compassion, and community spirit. These first graders created small hand decorated stones with uplifting words or messages. So, if you haven't seen when you go into Hi Ve, there's um it's not just the logo that's on there that's kind of cool, but as they do that, every time you fill your tank at these pumps, two cents of every gallon comes back to the Spring Lake Park schools from IV. So, um I try to remember to go there to to fill up. So, people are out there and want to support Spring Lake Park, they can fill up there. I also wanted to update just for the public board, you had a chance to hear about this recently, a study we're doing for our lighthouse program. It's currently for second to 12th graders at the um housed at the high school. It will continue to be for second to 12th graders. So, this isn't really about changing the program, but we're really looking at the physical location of Lighthouse School into the future. So, it's assessing how the uh how the location of Lighthouse might impact our enrollment um grade levels we might be able to serve, physical operations. So some parents with their second, third, fourth grade kids might be hesitant to have them attend at the high school. So if we move that into an elementary setting, would that be better better served? So we're exploring a number of other locations within the district. So what um has been done to this time to this point, there's a team, they've really done a deep dive looking at student learning data, parent perspectives, student perspectives. Um so met with groups of parents and students. They reviewed gifted programming across the state and the nation um against what we're doing and then had a design using these insights from their discovery work to develop several prototypes and they're gathering feedback on that now from um uh staff and uh parents and students. So they'll continue gathering that feedback now throughout December. They've been doing that in December and the next week here as well and into January. Um meeting with the families then in mid January to share some refined prototypes after getting their feedback and then we'll provide an updated recommendation to the school board later this winter. So then following that we have an implementation plan. So it's not necessarily for next fall. It really depends on what they learn over the next couple of months as they wrap up that study. We have our break coming up December 24th to January 2nd. Um January 19th. There's also no school for kids. Have our one act play stretch your legs um on Friday January 16th and Saturday January 17th at Fine Arts Center. If people have never seen the one act play, it's definitely worth going to. The kids do an amazing job with that. And that is it. >> Awesome. Questions? Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. All right. We are moving on to our action items. We will start with certification of the final 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy. Can I get a motion? >> Motion by Schmidt. Second by Vala to adopt the final 2025 table 2026 property tax levy and to certify the amounts to the inoka county department of property tax administration in amounts totaling 299,454,71987. We just have a presentation about this. Any other questions or comments for discussion? >> Okay. All those in f favor please say I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes. Moving on to approval of the 2026 2027 school calendar. Can I get a motion? >> Wow. >> Motion by Skellyy, second by Schmidt. Um, we've discussed this at our most recent work session and this will be uh posted tomorrow on the district website. >> Okay. Any other discussion? All those in favor, please say I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Moving on to proposed policy modifications. Is there a motion? >> Motion by Mlen, second by Forsber to approve the adoption of the following policies with proposed modifications. And these are being um proposed under policy 208 which states if a policy is modified with minor changes that do not affect the substance of the policy or because of a legal change over which the school board has no control the modified policy may be approved at one meeting at the discretion of the school board. So all these are all either minor changes or changes that are required by law under these. Any discussion? >> All those in favor please say I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. All right. First reading to initiate review of policy. Can I get a motion? >> All right. Motion by Schmidt. Second by Skellyy to approve the initiate initiation of the first reading of the following policy 533 school meals. Uh go ahead and take a look at that. That'll be in our school board materials online. Typically, we would then um if there's any discussion, we would talk about that at the work session, but we don't have a work session between in our next meeting. So, if you take a look at it, if you have any questions, reach out to Jeff. Um, if we have any issues, we can always push it back a month or two and discuss it more, but just take a look and let us know. All right. Uh, can I All right, we have a motion on the floor. Any other discussion on that? Okay. All in favor, please say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Motion passes. Moving on to acknowledgement of gifts. Motion by Forsber by Mlen to approve the following resolution where a school board 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, be it resolved that the school board of Spring Lake Park Schools accepts with appreciation the gifts I've shown which are on our screen. As always, we are very grateful to our community for their support. Any other discussion? Cler, could you call the role, please? >> Yes. Mrs. Forsber, >> yes. >> Miss Mlullen, >> yes. >> Mrs. Schmidt, yes. >> Mr. Bala, >> yes. >> Miss Skellyy, yes. Mrs. Tennant, >> yes. >> The resolution passes on a 60 vote. >> Thank you. All right, moving on to board forums. You got anything for us, Nikki? >> All right, good evening to everyone and to the board. Um, first things first, if I sound super exhausted, it's because I am. Um, and unfortunately, Mia is not here with us today, so you're going to have to deal with me. But I uh I had finals week and I had my last three today. I've been up since 4:00, so bear with me now. Um, but it's okay. We're going to we're going to we're going to be all right. Um, first things first, I want to go back to the football game. From a student perspective, it was such a great time. I was near the front of it, so I got to get the whole view. And it's big in there. That was my second time in US Bank Stadium. That is gigantic in there. Oh my days. And also, our girls, you're all good. And also, uh, around the same time, our girls swim team also went to state at the University of Minnesota. I missed it, but I heard it was super fun. and we are going fully fledged into our winter sports now. And a highlight is that our girls basketball team is 6 and0 which is the best program start since 2010. So they're doing really well right now. Yeah. And uh for our music uh our band and choir recently had their Chicago trip. They performed at the food museum. So that was super cool. And then last week band had all their concerts. So their symphonic band, their wind ensemble and their jazz. And then just last night uh choir had their concert as well. I missed it because I was studying for finals, but it's okay. And as mentioned earlier, uh there were auditions for stretch your legs on December 5th and so you will be seeing showtimes for that next month. And then some miscellaneous things, the winter market, as mentioned beforehand. I was actually there volunteering with the little kids, helping them shop uh for presents. And there's also recently the holiday basket assembly with the SOP Lions as well. And just some updates from student council. We had our blood drive on December 5th. We had a huge turnout. I tried signing up for a slot, but we actually filled up, which is actually it's a it's a good thing to happen. So, and then we recently added 18 new members. So, we now have a 52 member student council. And last, but not least, we have started planning our winter spirit week. So, hopefully me and Mia can share more updates next month. >> Well, thank you for that. I hope you get some good sleep after this. That's all. That's great. Any other reports from the board? It's it's not a big report um because it is the football theme that we are kind of still riding the the wave on. Um but I wanted to say when Jeff brought up uh that the fifth graders had played the Viking mascots. >> So, no joke, I had a friend that sent me the picture on Sunday because I didn't know they were playing. They're like, "Oh, look. It's your it's your little Panthers." And I go, "Oh, yeah, that's cool." And then I go to the gym the next day and I kid you not, they were on ESPN. So ESPN had caught a clip of it. >> Wow. >> And then the hosts of the show were like talking about the plays as though it was the way that they um talked through like a college game or like so and so and this turn and I'm like holy smokes. So anyway, 15 15 seconds of fame. And so that that that is my update. >> That's great. Anybody else over here? >> I'm gonna stick with the youth football theme. >> Oh wow. the amount of youth little youth players at the championship game and how like amazed they were and and they think of them as heroes and >> um they're so inspired. >> Yeah. >> And so excited. It was a lot of energy and a lot of people and it was a very proud moment to be a pamper. >> Awesome. >> Thank you. Anybody over here? >> Marilyn, don't forget your your several things, but I'll try to be brief. >> Okay. >> I was at a park terrace PTA meeting in I think November and they are just having periodic meetings, not every month from here on out. Um, I was at a help me grow meeting and as you know they try to find preschool children who need special ed programs but right now it's going to stop because of the immigration situation that people are just hiding and they're just not finding kids. I was alive on 65 um 916. We played, we had fun, we had toys, but actually those toys are part of an assisted technology library, which the school district can use items for special ed kids to determine whether that should be a permanent purchase for those students or whether something else would work better. And they have quite a quite a thing. They have 2,956 items that can be borrowed by the various school districts. So, I don't know if we're taking advantage of that, but a lot of neat stuff. We had a good time with them. >> Um, also at 9:16 when I thought perhaps I would not be running for the board again, we made some considerations about passing on the chair. So, I think I have cheered my last N 9:16 board meeting with >> a little bit of sadness. Um, they pulled some numbers. I've been on that board since 2006, vice chair 2010 to 19, chair from 19 through 25, and the executive committee for 19 years. So, I don't know where that's going. I don't know if that's my term has expired, but I would really like to go for next year. And Delicate Assembly, this big fat book. I won't read all of it to you tonight. There's only 345 pages. There was 36 resolutions. A lot of them had to do with finances. Um, some having to do with increased funding for career and technical education, which would be a benefit to us. Uh, some having to do with PSO because there are regions in the state where the high schools on one side of the street and the community college on the other side. So people see people walking out of the high school door >> with their funding to go to the community college and so there has been a request for a study of that. The superintendent mentioned the special ed situation. As the law stands, if they cannot find $250 million cuts, that money will be taken out of the cross subsidy. So that received extensive discussion because that would hurt probably every district in the state. The other thing that was of significance, um, and there were a number of what I would call silly resolutions, but, um, some discussion of the permanent school fund, which is land that was deed to Minnesota in the 1800s. And as it stands currently, those funds are distributed just the proceeds of the year, interest in dividends that come off of those lands. There's a proposal to do it that a certain percentage of the uh total funding available be distributed every year. And it's uh a bit controversial. It did not pass unanimously. Well, we almost thought it should have been a a hold up your uh paddle vote because it was that close. Um but that will probably go to the legislature and it would require a constitutional amendment to change how that's funded >> and I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about it, but just keep an ear. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I just was going to provide some additional context since Marilyn mentioned that special ed, the 250 million. So that's true. It's um written into the legislation. If this what they're calling a blue ribbon committee can't come up with a solution, it would come from the cross subsidy. That would be much more harmful for us long term. It would be a little bit less in the initial year, but moving forward as that cross subsidy would get cut. It would hit us longer. In addition, there would be maintenance of effort penalties for the state each of the districts in the um across the state. So that would be a significant penalty that we want to avoid. So, um, >> that's why they're most likely looking at this ASIS penalty. So, there's there's, um, or ASIS cut. So, there's going to be something with that. In addition, since she brought 916, this Thursday, I'm going with Kaen Sam Marinelo, our director of special education to 916. The superintendent, I'll give her credit over at 916, is pulling at each of the 13 districts together and really looking at some of those areas where we're having trouble placing students, high needs students who need setting for services. and there's no place to put them. And so what are basically is coming together to say what are some of the solutions we might be able to um arrive at across the districts um to address some of the challenges that we're uh facing with that. And then just a fun one that I uh two fun ones that I forgot to mention the uh superintendent advisory council of the students that I work with over at the high school. I met with them last week and I I work with that group with Megan Jockey the uh principal. And one of the questions she asked them was, "What's your favorite learning experience?" since there's a number of Westwood teachers here. I would say of the >> um 12 students who were there, at least 11 of the 12 talked about experiences at Westwood >> and um it was just really fun uh cool experiences that they talked about. So they loved their time at Westwood. So um and sometimes middle schools get a bad rap in every single district. Um and uh >> ours is great, >> but I think you have to be a unique, flexible person. That's I loved I think I was I worked with sixth graders. I loved teaching sixth grade. That's it was fun. But um that was fun to to hear them say that. And then back to the whole football team thing. It was fun to see a number of the football players doing the Shark Tank presentations at the um last week when it was the first round of preliminary rounds where kids were either individually or with a partner sharing their pitching their ideas to various industry partners who were the judges. And uh it's always a blast to hear these kids because I can't imagine myself in high school getting up there and presenting for however long they're doing it. 10 to 15 minutes. And >> um they just roll with it and then they get grilled with questions. So it was a lot of fun to see that. >> Yes. There's some bad hair going on there. That's for sure. >> Um well for me I will just start by saying congratulations and thank you to Marilyn for all her years of leadership at 916. What a rain. Um I Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Full circle. Okay. I'm just going to mention I went to a Panther Foundation meeting or kind of a longer meeting. So, I'll just say that we not that one, this one that um they approved several grants and um of course did some talking about the put it out there now the party for a purpose on Saturday, February 28th and then the whole week that goes ahead of that. So, always a great group of people to meet with. All right, anything else for board forums? Okay, we are going to move on to close session. Uh can I get a motion? Motion by Forsber, >> second by Vala to enter into close session to review employee negotiations. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say I. >> All those opposed? Motion passes and we will move into close session at 8:22. Thank you for those who are here. Thanks guys. Thanks for coming. I want to apologize for haven't done this in a while, so I kind of lose my >> I know.