under God, indivisibley and justice for all. >> Welcome everyone. Can I get a motion or actually first question is there any changes to the agenda? No changes. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda as presented? >> So moved by >> second. >> Second by Henn to approve the agenda. All in favor, please say I. I >> those opposed. Motion passes. Moving to some future events. Please check the district calendar and resource guide or the district website for a complete list of monthly events. Wednesday, October 15, 2025, no school. Prof staff professional workday. Thursday, October 16, no school. Friday, October 17, no school, district service center uh closed. Tuesday, October 28th, 2025, school board work session at 5:00 pm. And Tuesday, November 11th, school board regular meeting at 7 PM with communication to the board and administration at 6:45 p.m. Moving to consent agenda. Can I get a motion? >> So moved by Forsber, >> second. >> Second by Vala to approve the following items of the consent agenda. Minutes of the September 9, 2025 regular school board meeting. September 24, 2025 school board work session. Bills paid for August 2025 in the amount of 7,856,583 and personnel items. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Moving to discussion reports and information items. Engaged in enthusiastic learners align align work of adults to continuously improve personalized instruction and responsiveness to meet our students unique and varied needs. And looks like we have several presenters this evening. >> Welcome. >> Hi. Um I'm going to kick it off and give some context and then I'm going to invite um some students and a teacher who is here tonight to also share their input. So um okay. So a little bit update for this um district operational plan project and some context about why it is a project again this year. Just adjust this a little bit this way. Um so nine years ago is when the district made the choice to implement um the within the three pathways which as a reminder are business and entrepreneurship, health and human services and technology engineering and design. Um the pathways courses like officially launched uh in fall of 2018. However, we of course had some like our opportunities in emergency care program prior to that, but those kind of three official pathways launched at that time. And what we the aim of this year's district operational plan project is to make sure that our programming remains relevant and forward thinking. Um so we want to just continue to build on our foundation and expand um both the pathways experiences and the college credit opportunities for our students. And also um as I'm sure you're all aware, the workforce has changed dramatically in the last nine years. And so we wanted to take another look at the trends within the workforce and make sure that we're doing whatever we can to prepare our students for whatever they choose to do next, including kind of some of those technology advancements. Um, okay. So, as I mentioned, um, we have our three pathways. Um, within our three pathways, we have 37 different courses. Some of those courses are trimester and some of them are year-long. 14 of the 37 offer college credit um in some way, shape, or form through a variety of partnerships with our different universities. In pulling some data um from this past year, a recent class, 92% of our graduates took at least one Pathways course during their four years um at our high school and 85% took more than one. So um obviously we're very happy about that. Um and then we had as as again thinking about both career and college pathways um 51 is the number of courses that we offer at the high school with college credit opportunities. And in the most recent graduating class, 83% of our students earned at least one college credit and 49% of them earned 12 or more, which um as you know, our 12 by 12 um initiative of 12 college credits by 12th grade is something that we hoped for. Um because the research supports that having that ex having that experience of 12 credits before they graduate is one of the best indicators of success for whatever comes after. um including being able to handle more rigorous college courses when students are paying for it, which is what we want. We want to make sure that they are surrounded with support when they're taking them with us. So, within this DOP project, we're looking at, of course, our career pathways, but we're always trying to think about the college aspect of it because our goal with the development of the pathways was that we would create enough opportunities where students didn't have to choose college or a pathways exploration, but that there would be some opportunities for both. A great example of that is um the marketing and entrepreneurship course at the C at the 11th and 12th grade level where students can get an ARC uh no Ramsey concurrent enrollment credit and in communications for an English credit and then also get the Shark Tank business pitch experience and so they get two credits for that course including a college credit. So that is the goal is that there's just more options for students to choose from and that they can um have more support when they're making the choices. Okay. So a little bit of just where were we when we designed the pathways originally and what does that mean for this year's work? Um so as with most things that we do here in Spring Lake Park schools, we use our 3D design process to create the pathways. will use the same process to refine and enhance. So with those three um stages of discover, design and deliver. And um this is is always like it's fun for me to be up here talking about this slide because I was not here in SLP at that time when we did this discovery, but I was part of the discovery in a different district which was always kind of a a fun thing. In 201617 um the school district we reviewed national studies and occupational trends including um Georgetown center in education and workforce. There was a lot of partnership with Minnesota Department of uh employment and e economic development so that we had current reality on job market and what was going to be most beneficial for students as they entered the workforce and then visited other sites across the state with um with career and college pathways and that was um when I I was able to host you all and first become acquainted with Spring Lake Park schools through when hosting that experience. Um and then of course visiting with industries to gain perspectives of partners on the skills that are needed for the workforce. So that was some of the discovery that happened in the 2016 2017 school year and then 2017 2018 um yes I was I got to facilitate it. I joined Spring Lake Park and that was obviously I'm happy with that choice as I'm here tonight. Um and that was that first year um we established our industry partner advisory um and really used that to gather insight. So at that point the district had decided that we would offer the three pathways of health and human services, technology, engineering and design and then the business and entrepreneurship. But what to offer within those was something that we needed to do more discovery on. We knew that we wanted to make the opportunities in emergency care program and our nursing assistant continue to make those really robust offerings but we also did discovery about for example in technology engineering and design what courses would we offer because at that point in time we didn't have how to make almost anything or the code coding class there was I think a computer science class at the high school but now our technology engineering design pathway is really robust and that came from that first year and subsequent years of discovery. Um, so what we did to gather that insight was a lot of meeting with industry partners. Um, so I spent with some of my colleagues a lot of time meeting with industry partners, especially local industry partners to learn more about what needs they were seeing. And then um worked with I was new to the high school. It was a really nice way to get to know people at the high school was to gather their insight. We did put an all call out to anybody who was interested in maybe offering a pathways course or had an idea and that was that marketing and entrepreneurship course that I mentioned. That was how that came to be was it was from an idea from the English teacher who's still teaching it today. Um and so we gathered a lot of insight. We also were looking at those college credits. So there was a lot of meetings with the local colleges to say which classes could we embed um some of our college credit into. And then we gathered a lot of insight from students. So we surveyed students, interviewed students, ran focus groups to better understand what would draw them while also holding that next to what is the world telling us that is needed for students to be ready to enter the workforce or majors for college. And then we prepared for the 2018 launch. And now here we are nine years later and um I'm looking at it and um really the work that's happened thus far or is in the midst of happening is um really looking at making sure that are our outcomes still the same for our current college pathways. Um making sure that we're having consistency for students across the pathways. you got to hear last spring from our constructions trade students and our opportunities and emergency care students and teachers and that was such a fun experience to hear how much they love their courses and um so we're really looking at how do we how do we look at those experiences and make sure that that's the experiences students are having across the board. Um we also are working um with an MBA intern. Um and so we established that process to gain some insight from somebody who's in a recent program and also like kind of that younger straddling the line between where our students are now and where they're going to be heading hopefully later on. And then doing a lot of just looking at our current offerings and emerging market trends so that we're identifying any gaps in our current programming. Um, and then we're continuing to look at the college credit opportunities. And then one thing that we started a couple years ago is offering more options at Westwood. Um, so and refining and redesigning the options at Westwood. And that of has had a really positive impact in that it's having students get more interested at a younger age, but then that also impacts the programming that you have at the high school. So I'll speak about that in just a second here. Um, as we get into later this year, we'll have a design team. That design team will be comprised of students, teachers, industry partners, so that we're really again getting multiple perspectives. Um, and then create what the implementation plan is for whatever the design team comes up with. So we'll do our same process of looking in, looking out, looking around, looking at what are other what are other districts offering, what are their pathways programming, what are our students taking, what are the demographics within our different courses. Are we, you know, where do we have, like I said, some of those gaps in programming and where we might need to add more. Those are all things that we will be doing as we go through the 3D design process. That doesn't mean that our awesome pathways courses won't continue to be offered. So ongoing is continue to support all of our teachers in the design of engaging work. Um and also just how are we supporting all teachers with bringing those more relevant real world experiences into the core. Um and you heard some examp I'm sure you've heard of some of the examples and seen some of the stories that our communications team has put out um around some of the amazing projects that are happening across the district. And then we will continue to offer our current courses while we're in the design phase. Um, so tonight that's a little bit of context about kind of where we've been and an update on where this project stands, but tonight we also just wanted to bring to life um, specifically some of the amazing work that's been happening in technology, engineering, and design, but also to highlight why this is a really good time to look at our pathways overall. Again, um, so technology, engineering, and design has a variety of courses. We've kind of those have they've ebbed and flowed in what we've offered over the years based on how students have registered. It includes courses like how to make almost anything digital art and design. It also includes our engineering courses um and then our computer science courses and then you'll hear from a couple people tonight about um epic game design and mechatronics. And um so I want to talk just a little bit and then I'm going to call some students up here in just a minute about Epic Game Design. So epic game design is uh uh one and two are courses that are offered at Westwood and this is a prime example of the great work that has happened that also has said okay we need to look at our alignment because we had so many students interested and loving Epic one that we needed to quickly add an epic 2 design and I wish so much that Michael Packingham who's the teacher for that course could be here tonight that he wasn't able to make it because the work that he has done to redesign the course has been incredible. Um I think he's a big part of the reason why so many students took it that then we needed to design a second course. Um he has really focused on how does he have students use a 3D design process and how does he have students focus on the process of design rather than the end result. Um he also brings in elements from our business pathways. So students have to make a pitch for investment into their game design. Um and he is getting students into coding earlier. And so a result of that which is a good problem to have is we don't have a great next step at the ninth grade level for those students right now because we have more kids doing coding than before. And so right now we don't have four years worth of coding at the high school. So that's a prime example for us to look at what does that computer science pathway look like? How does animation fit into it? How does um AI fit into it? All of the different things cyber security that fall into computer science. So it's a good problem to have in my opinion and it's directly the result of the awesome work that he's done. So I am going to stop talking about him and actually let two students come up and talk a little bit about this. I'm gonna highlight that. Um, one of them, you guys can come on up, is my own child who and and he was not as reluctant as he looks right now because he loved this course. But this is one of those moments where I take so much pride in a dual role. Like as a parent to have your kid experience the things that we say we want kids to experience was very meaningful. So, I will stop talking and let you guys introduce yourselves and talk about Epic Game. >> Hi. Uh, my name is Hendrickk. I'm a freshman and I took Mr. Pinam's Epic Game Design class at the middle school through seventh and eighth grade. I really liked it a lot. I decided to take the class because it sounded fun and good for me because I like technology and stuff like that. And then I took it and I really liked it a lot in seventh grade which made me decide to take it in eighth grade too. Uh, in Epic Game Design, Mr. M had us design our very own games. So we weren't going by just one thing and we could make pretty much whatever we wanted to which I found to be really fun and it was self-paced as well. Uh I picked up many different programming skills that uh inspired me to pursue a lot more opportunities in computer science and I do hope to go to college for computer science one day and I think his class influenced a lot of that. Uh, one of my favorite things I did in his class was we made a remake of one of the classic games named Flappy Beard, which I did with my classmate Ben over here. Um, the other thing is that we didn't just do game design. We worked on uh designing music and video games and art as well. So, it comes to way more than just programming. I'd highly recommend it to any middle schoolers. And thank you for having me here tonight. Um, I'm Bennett Planting and I'm also a freshman who also did it in seventh and eighth grade. Um, what made me choose this class was I thought it'd be a great new experience and something that I'd love to learn and I felt like it was just right up my alley and I felt like it was just a great learning opportunity. And um, the most engaging thing I felt about this was how it was so free and like self-paced and you could do anything. There wasn't a certain strict thing you'd have to go by. You could make any kind of game you want as long as it met the criteria. I felt like it was so great how it was so open to anything you wanted to do. And um I thought it was a great learning experience with how much stuff we did because again we didn't just learn games. We did music, art, um design, and a lot of things and even physical stuff like board games. and I felt like that was a lot of fun and just a great learning experience. Again, um I would recommend it for people who are looking just for a new thing or someone who's already interested in making games or design or just graphic art and it's just a really fun thing I felt like and it was super open. Um and I just felt like it was really fun to try something new and yeah, thank you. you might have to come back up later to ask question answer questions. Um so yes, so you got to hear a little bit about that. And we want to also then highlight um a course that we added two years ago. I'm Last year was the first year. So this is the second year. You guys want to come on up? Um and we thought it would be fun to hear about meatronics because also not everybody might you may not even totally know what that is. I didn't before we launched the course. So, I'm gonna turn it over to Zach Humphrey and he's going to talk a little bit about his course with his students. >> Good evening. My name is Zach Humphrey. A little bit about myself. Um, I'm a 2005 graduate of Spring Lake Park. Go Panthers. Um, uh, I don't have a traditional background in teaching. I went the career in techad route when we were in high school. Back when I was in high school, we had auto machine shop, we had small engines, construction trades, drafting, and um I decided to take the automotive career pathway. I went to Dunwoody. Um got a two-year associates, became a technician, and I ended up working for Chrysler corporate on different vehicles and scenarios and ended up being part of a team with the city of St. Paul. And then I was approached by a former instructor, the instructor that said, "I think you'd be good at teaching and we have a job in Minneapolis." And my wife and I discussed it for a long time about if we could make this work. And uh the ultimate deciding factor was the impact that my autos teacher had on me. If I didn't go and have that impact for someone else, what would my life been like if uh Bruce Broton wasn't there for me? where would I be today? And that was the driving factor. So, I left the industry. I decided to go back to school. I never thought I'd see myself in a four-year setting and uh to get my teaching degree. How that brings me here is I taught in Minneapolis for five years and we were having this conversation about community. And even though I loved Minneapolis, I love the school district, it wasn't my community. I have four kids. We live in Spring Lake Park. All of them are going to Spring Lake Park school. So I decided to reach out um and got a hold of Eric Van Brocklin and um started having conversations with him and I'm said if you have anything that ever comes up in this wheelhouse, I'd be more than welcome to come and take a take a stab at it. Um he says we got this mechatronics course and I'm I'm like I'm in I'm game. Let's do this. Um so what mechatronics is is it's where robotics meets um manufacturing. It is uh comprehensive skill set that makes you able to understand diagnose and repair factory equipment. And the stig there's a stigma that when people say factory equipment has changed over the many decades of being I'm running a punch press to this is a smart machine using six axis robots and um logic circuits and controls. So what the students learn is an introduction to hand tools and measurement. We then go on we learn all about electrical systems different types of circuitry how circuits work together. We learn about sensors, logic systems, pneumatics, hydraulics, robot operations, and then we learn about um how all these things tie together. And so with this trimester's class, they're going to have an objective. We're going to learn about all of these different elements. And the objective is going to be they've got to flip a pancake using all these systems. And so they have to think and come up, you know, use their critical thinking skills, design and execute this operation. How they do it, I don't care. They're going to be given the tools, resources, and knowhow to make this procedure happen. Now, is this something that we'd see in the real world? Probably not. But they're going to be able to take those skills and abilities and apply that con conceptual knowledge in industry. Um, how this course really came to be is Eric has experience, Eric Van Brocklin has experience with a lot of career and techn career and technology um, education across the metro and he saw it as an area of need and he contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in teaching it. Um, I said yes. I went and took some of the certifications, acquired them, and um I started teaching it last year. We are now in our probably fourth iteration and we have um it has really changed now that we're into the fourth trimester of teaching it. We started with pretty much a online learning management system. Kids were doing tasks online and it wasn't very authentic learning. And so as we've been going, we're taking some of this online elements out of it and moving toward more towards a hands-on approach. So, for example, this week we've been working on measurement and fasteners. It used to be all online. Kids are getting the physical fasteners in their hand. We're learning how to tap and um thread metal. They're learning about different drill indexes, uh drill bits. They're learning about different measuring systems, how to measure things down to 10,000 of an inch. how you know they're measuring the thickness of a human hair comparing it to the thickness of a piece of paper because it all plays a role in manufacturing. Um the vision that we have for this is we were just today talking with industry and industry partners and we really want this thing to grow. We see a lot of potential. The industry right now is is kind of scared. They uh the average age of their workforce is 58 or higher. and they're looking to make a big commitment that we're trying to be kind of like a pilot program and put into play of they're going to pay people to come proctor and mentor our students. And so we're discussing what that could look like and we're for example, we're going to have a test on fasteners probably sometime next week. We're hoping that we can get in the spring trimester, we can get industry to come in, help proctor the these exams, take kids, look at them, give them feedback, speak a little bit about their experience. So, we have these relationships in industry. So, when we go out on an industry visit, a student like Ben or Isaac can be, "Hey, I know this guy. He was in this classroom. He, you know, showed me, gave me advice on this." with the ultimate goal with these industry partners being in the next uh two to five years is they're a organization like Buler or RMS is having someone being paid to come in and not necessarily teach but just be there for advice to oversee and be like an adjunct person. Now, obviously, this is in its infasy, but and this is something we're talking about, but I think it um says a lot about what the manufacturing industry sees and wants for their people and their the future. Um the reason why I think students really like this is because it takes the stuff that they're learning in regular class and they get to apply it. And so they can go down to geometry and they, you know, they're working in their textbook, they're doing problems, and then we apply it. We apply it in class. We apply these real world scenarios. Um, and for some students, that's what it takes to click. That's what it took for me to click. I would go down to autos. I went into medals and um didn't necessarily wasn't necessarily the greatest student, but then I could see the reasoning behind it. It gave me the purpose. It gave me the motivation. And I see that with a lot of kids in our class today where they're they could be lost. They could have a lack of vision and then they see this and they find some a sense of purpose and think, "Hey, this is something I could really see myself doing." and they find that drive, that motivation and um get their diploma, do the, you know, take the extra class, maybe go on and take the um AP course in the area that they think that will help them. Um the the the real purpose though is I think CTE, career and technical education, TED pathways benefits us as a whole. Um, I was just watching this news clip from Ford Motor Company and they're short almost a thousand technicians in their dealerships nationwide. I don't know how many of you have gone to get a car repair lately. It's like one to two weeks to get your car fixed and they're scheduling you two months out. And that's only going to get worse. And so there's a lot of potential for students to go into some sort of repair technician industry and have very successful lives and successful careers. And I think that we could be on the front cutting edge of welcome uh welcoming high school education back into this and our students prospering and benefiting from these types of programs and education. Um, the biggest stat that resonates with me is 93% of students who take a career in teched course graduate from high school. And I'm one of those 93%. If I didn't find automotive my sophomore year, I probably wouldn't have graduated from high school. Um, but I think with the links we have with industry and the opportunities that we're giving to students, um, we're going to have a great future with TED Pathways. I'm I'm really happy with the district's approach and what our vision is looking like, discussing these things with Melissa and Karen. Uh, I'm really optimistic for the future with Ted Pathways Park. I'm going to turn it over to my students here. Um I'm Isaac. Uh I'm a senior and um before I took meatronics I took um intro to engineering which is a project with the way course that park provides and uh you know I I kind of took meatronics because it looked interesting to me and like the next step to that class and um yeah I would say I learned a lot from that class about like uh measuring and about like different materials and to kind of back to Mr. Humphrey was saying about uh like how it's real applied to real knowledge and how you can apply it is um I would say I really applied it outside the classroom uh a lot and specifically um in robotics. I do robotics for the school and that class was like perfect because I could take the knowledge I learned from that class and apply directly to robotics and learning about how like gears work in chains and belt drives and that kind of sort of thing. Um, and yeah, you know, I would just I would recommend it to any person who wants to give it a shot and uh and yeah, I think it was a very good class and I think Mr. Humper did a very uh good job of teaching the class. So, thank you. >> I'm Bennett. I'm still a freshman and um I just started taking mechatronics this year and I felt like it's super fun and wonderful so far and it's great for learning because I feel like with all the stuff we're learning it might be great for job opportunities and stuff outside of school. We recently had a public speaker come in representing Luther Tech and once you turn 18, you could sign up for this to get paid to basically learn by fixing cars and learning a lot new stuff. And I felt like mechatronics so far, even though I've only been it for a couple weeks now. And it's been super helpful learning to be safe with tools and learn measurements and grades of bolts and fasteners. and I felt like it's just been a really great experience so far. Thank you. >> Well, I am super appreciative. I want to open it up for questions before we close out if you have questions for any of the students or for Zach, for myself. >> All right, board members, any questions? >> Any comments? >> I have a question. How many students are taking these courses? I'm just curious like how many do you have in your classes? >> Um, so which course in partic >> I don't know. I mean I don't know how many. >> So I teach four classes. I got four preps right now. I have uh how to make I have principles of engineering. I have meatronics and the intro of the trades class. So with uh my how to make classes, they're the entry level engineering classes. They're both right around 30 kids, 30 to 34 kids. I have um my intro the trades which is at like 30 kids. Mechatronics has right now 22 and um my principles of engineering is a more rigor rigorous course that has college credits year long and that has 14 students in it. >> That's great. I don't know off the top of my head how many are in the epic game designs one and two, but that plus the STEM course at the middle school which has been also Michael's been working on redesigning with our STEM teacher. They're huge draws for students. So yeah, they done very well. >> I love hearing from you, but I really love hearing from them, too. So, thank you guys. It was great. >> I go ahead. Sorry. >> I just was curious. Do you know the coding that they learn like is the type of >> I feel like you guys can Thank you. >> And I would say too then I felt like that's that Hendrickup for taking Python this summer pretty and that went really well. >> The the classes the Westwood classes are those a trimester or those year. Wow. That's great. >> Um question for you, Melissa. Um, as you know, the board loves to talk about pathways. We're always so we love these presentations. We love hearing from everybody. Um, and you talked about how several of the classes had embedded college credits in them. I also know one of the things that I have really appreciated. >> Um, because sometimes it's hard to fit it all in in your schedule. We have a lot of I know pathway courses that also meet some of our other core requirements. They might need a language arts requirement or a math. Do you have and I'm just throwing this at you so you may not know, but I'm curious if you know kind of what percentage or you know of our classes offer a bit of that. >> Um >> I know sorry. >> No no no that's okay. Um for the core credit it's so it's primarily the marketing and entrepreneurship which is combined with an English communications and then we have a reading and writing in the digital age that is also a core class. >> Okay. We have um I think that so like for example um I met with Scott Wickland yesterday and he's looking at how he can we can embed more geometry into construction trades. So I would say it's like still a work in progress >> which is >> and that's something that we would like yeah would like to see more of you know it's and I think too one thing we'll be looking at with the project is >> how how do we create more opportunities for teachers to partner together where it doesn't always have to be the constraints of a course because we know that the benefit of having as many courses as we do is that we have a lot of courses and then there's a lot of choices and it can also sometimes have opposite effect of it constricting the schedule for students. So, one of the things we've been looking at is how can we in similar ways of what we've done with our co-created courses, how can we open things up a little bit more? We also did that with um health, which is a required credit. We have a NOA Ramsey course that is an exercise science course and and we also have a um oh, it's like a couple different fit for life and for students who are essentially sorry it's wellness I'm thinking of the wrong one. It's for students who are interested in going into some sort of health science career and they can get their core health credit through that. >> Oh, great. Yeah. >> So, I would like to see more opportunities, but I think one thing that will challenge us with this and will be a good challenge is just innovating outside of the traditional box of >> courses, right? >> So, that it it really does open it up more for students. Yeah. and teachers because there's a a lot of teachers who are interested in collaborating together on different opportunities to bring that core and elective together. >> That's awesome. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Other board members, >> I'll also add um this is my second year taking computer science and like Mr. Humphrey said like sometimes the pathways can just be like the way to connect things because like I'll just make random connections because like for example last week in stats like my teacher was like there's all these different things and you might have to like try a lot and I'm like wow that would take forever but then I was like well I could like write a program to solve it and stuff so it's like it connects all the different courses together which is cool. >> Yeah. >> I don't have a question. just have a excuse me a comment. Um, this is amazing to see it like through the eyes of the students. I appreciate it so much. You all are fantastic presenting it and I can tell how passionate you are about it and I just love it that you found sort of like your spark that we talk about here in this and that we have such an amazing teacher that is so passionate. You could tell he's passionate about as well and it just makes me proud and so thank you all. And you too, Melissa. I mean, I feel like I just now like I'm super appreciative. I I really appreciate this happening in high school. I have a grandson who is on the spectrum who went to a high school that didn't have these opportunities. And he said, "Grandma, I graduated at the bottom of my class. only 600 in that class who has gone on to community college and now has gone through auto mechanics and his dad is a little worried because the grandson is going to be earning more than his dad very soon. But to have this opportunity in high school and not have to struggle in that way is just tremendous. So, thank you. Well, and you bring up a good point that we always say is it's just as valuable if a student finds out what they don't like. So, um, if they take a course and it's not what they like, then I feel like that really helps them and saves them money and time down the road. >> So, >> I Oh, go ahead. >> I just have a couple questions. I wanted the other board members to get their questions and comments in. As you can tell, >> u there's a lot of interest, a lot of passion even on this side about our pathways program. Um my one question, I actually have two. Um for the mechatronics, it it's mind-blowing what students can do today. I I think as AI has started to get more entrenched and industries have changed, I think a lot of people were concerned about jobs going away, whereas I hear the students speak and I hear uh Mr. Humphrey speak about this. It sounds like we're going to see actually more jobs open up as these new technologies and and industries start to adopt this. So kind of excited about that. Um but my question is um around mechatronics is there it sounds like the the level of coursework and and involvement that the students have is there opportunities to get certified in certain parts of >> so there is um >> okay >> right now with the way meatronics is set up it's would be it take an extremely talented individual to get certified so Eric and I are actually putting in a course request this fall to split it into two portions so we can give ample time for to go in depth and we need the amount in depth we need to go to achieve some of these soccer certifications which are essentially industry credentials where they could walk into an employer and say I've got this and employer can recognize that and say you can start working now or they could take it to University of Minnesota State or Stout and it's equivalent as a college Great. That's >> the the dream that we're talking with our industry partners is um setting up some sort of manufacturing facility in house where we make a product and the students are in charge of it. They're in charge of um you know inventory acquiring designing uh communicating with customers um and what that would look like. something we co-op with our business department and construction trades. Um, but that that is that's the goal. That's our vision board for one day. >> Awesome. I love it. I love it. Absolutely. That's great. Well, and I think that speaks to like all of the ideas Zach has is because like he said is constant refinement since I think the course launched which is you know that design process again as we >> and I think Mia touched on part of my question when she described her experience with computer science um or computer programming uh but from the other students also how has taking a pathways course and and having that hands-on experience How has that uh sparked interest in your other coursework? >> How has more information >> is epic or did what else did it make you interested besides those courses to anything else? I This is like where he's like, "My mom should not be speaking for me." But you also had to do all the music for your game and now he's all in on the music department at the high school for the first time ever. >> All right. >> So, I also feel like that was interesting. What about Ben or Isaac? How about you guys? was a summer project. There's a lot of arguing over who is the project manager is what I heard. >> It's that collaboration part. Yeah. And then my last comment is um Mr. Humphrey, I just want to say thank you for coming back to Spring Lake Park and investing in our community. Um I I always enjoy hearing about former students coming back and giving back. So I just want to say thank you for that. And they're like, I never thought he'd be here. >> You're not You're not alone. My son is a math teacher and I thought he'd never go into teaching. I'm just glad he graduated. So, >> you just told stole my thunder. I was I was going to say the same thing. But I just want to thank you all for being here. It's always uh great for the school board to have the opportunity to hear um from our students and our staff about the great work that they're doing. I think it's also great for the people that are going to tune in um to have the chance to to hear that as well. So, um I just really appreciate you being here and I think for everybody it's it's um the passion the kids have, but it really is coming to life through the passion that you heard from Zach. And I think that's that kind of thing. That's why we have some of the these pathways programs. They're not developed because we go out and buy a curriculum on it and then tell people to do it. It's because we've got people developing it because they have a passion for it. And it's it's um fun to see that. It's not just limited to those pathways. I can think of walking around the schools um in the past month and walking through and watching kids learn to play guitar and the the music into the building, watching Mike Hills interact with some math students. Um um and it was during his prep and they're in there and he's just having fun supporting them and talking with them. So um it's just great to see it's the passion of the kids and the passion of the adults and that all comes together and great things happen. So thank you for being here. And I would just say um also yeah, thank you. Obviously, our teachers are amazing. The kids are awesome. I appreciate the support from the school board over the years. That's been instrumental in us being able to work with our teachers who want to innovate and design. And then we just have amazing industry partners, too. And I feel like there's a shout out there. We have a lot of local um community uh partners that without them, a lot of our pathways pieces wouldn't come to life in the same way. So, I'm really appreciative of that. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to superintendent reporting. >> All right. So, this gets um pulled up. It's just a opportunity for me to share some um some of the cool happenings from across the district as I've been getting out, but also Erica and her team always do a great job uh pulling this presentation together, getting pictures from across the district and and kind of providing a synopsis of these things. So, I'm not going to read all of that. I'll let you do that and kind of taking the pictures, but as you know, we've talked about morning meetings, how important they are across our system and actually preK6. It's not just K6. We do start that in early childhood as well. that's really built that foundation for the kids of learning how to interact with one another um developing conf competence and just really creating that learner centered environment. This is uh happens to be Woodrest uh Spanish immersion but work they were doing with our science specialist over there um with the gummy bear uh science experiment. It's just been a blast the last couple years to see how in elementary some of the hands-on science uh experiences the kids have and it's just some of our first graders who made their mark. They had the opportunity to read the book the book the dot. So it's really about focus on creativity even when they doubt their abilities. This is really cool um opportunity. So, um, uh, one of our high school juniors, juniors, Connor Rep, uh, had a chance to meet with some of our fourth graders and just talk about his own experience. So, um, with a heart transplant. So, I know the kids were riveted with the opportunity to speak with him and learn from him. It's just fun. Tyler Nelson and, uh, Michael Watvich, that's how you pronounce that name. Yeah. Work some of the first graders doing some pickup basketball. at recess. So, it's always fun to see adults out there interacting with kids. I love this picture. This is from um our curriculum night at Westwood. Right in the middle there with the black shirt and the um badge on is Sue Bio, one of our teachers over at Westwood. And having a blast with uh some of our parents and kids, homecoming week. So, homecoming week, we always focus really on what's happening at the high school, and there's a lot of fun, great things happening there. But what's really been cool, and I think it's one of the unique things about Spring Lake Park, we're a one high school district, so everybody's a Panther. Um, you're not spread among the different schools. So, um, those days that they were having at the high school then carried out to Westwood into each of the elementary schools. They had a lot of fun with it. Two national merit semi-finalists. The homecoming pepfest is always a blast. Leave it there for a minute so you can see the pics. Is this still from the pep >> fest? And then of course uh I think everybody here is well aware that we have a levy for learning. So um it be the first time that we're asking um our community to uh vote on a levy since 2009. This will be the first time we will have increased the levy since 2002 if it is successful. and and um all the work going into it, I believe it's going to be successful. Really hope it will be. But um we continue to meet with a variety of groups throughout the community. Um many many presentations and opportunity to talk with people, home visits, um etc. For the people wa who may be watching tonight, there's a lot of information online if you go to springlake parkschools.org levy 2025. There's a video that can be watched there, a sample ballot explaining different elements of the question. Um here in the coming weeks there will be mailing will go out to um the required mailing will go out to all community members should hit probably the week after that should be hitting homes. Um so people can be looking for that and then clue high school edition on those dates this fall live on 65 Mexican brass M5. So, Monday, October 27th, it's always a fun way to get so many community members um to get into our our schools for that event, those events. That is it. And then those signs, you probably can see it's kind of fun. They're popping up all over the the district. One popped up a month ago across the street from my home. >> Didn't know. >> I got one. >> Cool. All right. Thank you, Jeff. So, moving on to action items. >> Can I get a motion to approve the resolution appointing election judges for the school district general and special election on November 4th. So, move by Vala. >> Second, >> second by McClullen to adopt the following resolution. Whereas Spring Lake Park Independent School District number 16 will be conducting a general and special election on November 4, 2025. And whereas pursuant to Minnesota statutes section 204B.21, election judges for the precincts in a school district election must be appointed by the board of that school district. And whereas persons selected to serve meet all requirements of Minnesota statute and county administrative policy and have been trained and certified pursuant to law. Now therefore, be it resolved by the school board of Spring Lake Park Independent School District number 16, State of Minnesota, as follows. Um the first bullet point is that the hereby um that those listed in attachment A um are appointed to serve as election judges for the school district on November 4, 2025. And the second uh item is in the event of circumstances requires a judge to be appointed in addition to the persons named in this resolution, the clerk of of election is authorized to appoint as necessary. and then is listed um in attachment A which we have in our our uh minutes or not minutes but in our agenda. Uh we have ISD16 precinct one is at Grace Evangelical Free Church and in Fidley and we have seven judges listed and ISD16 uh precinct 2 is National Sports Center the welcome center and we have eight judges listed there. Any questions or comments? Any discussion? >> Would you please call roll? >> Yes. Miss Forsber? >> Yes. >> Miss Schmidt? >> Yes. >> Miss Skellyy? Yes. Mr. Vala? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hennon? >> Yes. >> Miss Mlen? >> Yes. >> Mr. Easter? >> Yes. >> Resolution passes on a 70 vote. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion to adopt proposed policy modifications? So move. >> So moved by Hennon, second by Forsber to approve the adoption of the following policies with proposed modifications. Schoolboard policy 208 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 we have several policies that are changing. Um, eight of them that are changing. Any discussion? No discussion. >> Can I get all in favor please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Okay. Moving to uh the next item. We have an amend amendment to the resolution which is item F3. Uh can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> So moved by Vala. >> Second by Schmidt. uh for the approval of resolution ratifying the issuance and sale of general obligation school building refund bonds series 2025A in the original aggregate principal amount of $ 38,430,000 fixing their form and specifications directing their execution and delivery providing for their payment providing for the escrowing and investment of the proceeds therefore thereof and providing for the refunding of bonds We funded thereby we have Amy and represent from Ellers >> interpretation. >> Yes, >> English please. >> Yeah, I won't directly interpret that. Um, we've been speaking with the school board for a few months now about an opportunity to refund some of our school building bonds. Um, so just a quick refresher, refunding is similar to how you would refinance your home mortgage. Um, we have interest rates that are currently lower than when we originally issued the bonds. So, we're taking advantage of those lower rates. And so, with that, when we were here with the board last month, uh Mr. Bushberger presented at that meeting as well. We did they did go out for bids, open those this morning. And so, I am going to let him give the results of the opening. >> All right. Thank you, Amy. And it's good to see you all again tonight. Um, as Amy mentioned, we have some great results to share with you. Uh we uh based on the bid results this morning, uh we're going to see approximately $1.8 million in savings uh for your taxpayer for your taxpayers based on this refunding. So I'm just going to highlight a couple of um points in the process and more than happy to answer any questions you might have. So uh we did see strong interest um from nationwide underwriters and banks. Typically we like to see at least three biders and we saw 13 biders uh today. So, uh, strong interest nationwide. Um, UVS Financial Services, uh, is listed in the report here. They were the the winning bidder with the lowest interest rate, um, at 2.71%. So, really, when we receive that many biders, really, it's indicative of where the market is right now. So, uh, we feel like we really got strong results as as part of that process. Um, as Amy mentioned, I was here a month ago doing the pre-sale report. At that time, um, we were assuming just a partial refunding, so we weren't going to refund all of the maturities. And at that point, uh, we were estimating about $800,000 in savings. But thanks to the flexibility of, um, Jeff and Amy and their teams, um, we were able to pivot kind of midway through the process and recognized that, um, interest rates moved low enough where we could refund all of the maturity. So, we were able to to kind of pivot halfway through the process process and uh, achieve a little bit more in savings. Um just a couple of reminders. So these savings are within your debt service fund. Uh so these savings go uh directly to your taxpayers uh through the reduction of their levies. So this savings is going to be spread out over the next nine levy cycles including the pay 26 levy cycle. So you just approved the preliminary levy, right? Um but that levy can come down from the preliminary levy. So, we'll work with Amy and the Department of Education um to lower that levy for for this levy cycle. So, um and then finally just mention um uh part of this process again we did this last year as well is going through a rating process um with Moody's. They're one of the rating um agencies. And so that's a timeconsuming process for um Amy and her team. So they represented the district well. Um you were it's called affirmed. you are affirmed at a double A2 rating, which is a really strong rating. It's the third highest you can get. Um, and again, that's important because like a credit score when you're getting a loan, right, the stronger your rating, the lower the interest costs, um, for for the district and for your taxpayers. So, so again, uh, we really appreciate the opportunity to work with you and and Amy and her team and, um, more than happy to to answer any questions you have. Any questions? It's fantastic. >> Yeah, these numbers are better than I than I would have imagined. >> Yeah, we're very pleased. >> So, quick question. Um, have we calculated what the savings would be per average house home value? >> We don't have that on us, but we can definitely do that for you. >> I was just curious maybe. >> Yeah, I was just curious if maybe you calculated it out, but I don't know. It sounds like it came in pretty quick. Awesome. Yeah. Any >> I was just going to reiterate for people that may be watching online and is you were going through that. You hit it kind of quick, but um is that these savings are savings that go directly to the taxpayers. So, it's just like lowering your mortgage. It's actually not any increase in revenue for the school district with this, but it does save um for taxpayers. So, just wanted to clarify that. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. just just to add on to that, it it's again we we establish a pattern of doing this and and creating savings for for our residents and taxpayers. So once again, you know, I'm excited to do this again and and have this uh continue this pattern. >> I I'll just add one more quick thing since you brought it up. So I brought the list from from your refundings uh since 2014. Um including this refunding, you're up to almost $15 million in savings. >> That's awesome. >> Great. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> Clerk, would you please call roll? >> Yes. >> Miss McClullen? >> Yes. >> Miss Hennon? >> Yes. >> Miss Forsber? >> Yes. >> Miss Kelly? Yes. Miss Schmidt? >> Yes. >> Mr. Vala? >> Yes. >> Mr. Easter. >> Yes. >> The resolution passes on a 70 vote. >> Thank you. Sorry I have to go through many pages to get to the next. >> Next deal. >> Yes. All right. >> Where are we? >> American Education Week, November 17 through 21. Can I get a motion? >> Moved by Schmidt. Second. >> Second by Mlen to adopt the following resolution. Whereas American Education Week was first observed in December 1921 as an opportunity to focus public support on our nation's schools. And whereas the strength of our nation depends on a citizenry that values our public schools and supports our children's education. And whereas all staff in the district provide a safe, healthy, and engaging learning environment for our children and communities. and whereas schools bring together adults and children, educators and volunteers, business leaders and elected officials in a common enterprise. Now therefore, be it resolved, the school board of Spring Lake Park Schools hereby designates November November 20 November 17th through the 21st, 2025 as a recognition and celebration of American Education Week in Spring Lake Park Schools. Any discussion? Yeah. Always excited to to do this and and participate. >> Clerk, would you please call the role? >> Yes. Mr. Vala? >> Yes. >> Miss Hennon? >> Yes. >> Miss Kelly? Yes. Miss Schmidt? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Forsber? >> Yes. >> Ms. Mcclullen? >> Yes. >> Mr. Easter? >> Yes. >> Resolution passes on a 70 vote. >> Thank you. Acknowledgement of gifts. Can I get a motion? So moved. >> So moved by Scully. >> Second. >> Second by Hennon to approve the following resolution. Whereas schoolboard policy 706 establishes guidelines for 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 as shown. Any discussion? As always, we're very thankful to the our community and residents for the gifts that they provide. >> Yeah, that's what we were just commenting on. >> The bed >> and swivel chairs. >> Yes, >> I'm not going to ignore the swivel chairs. All right. No further discussion. Clerk, would you please call roll? >> You that Miss Hennon? >> Yes. >> Miss Skellyy? Yes. Miss Forsber? >> Yes. >> M. Schmidt? >> Yes. >> Mr. Bala? >> Yes. >> Miss McClullen? >> Yes. >> Mr. Easter? >> Yes. >> Resolution passes on a seven vote. >> Thank you. Moving to board form and reports. We'll start with our student reps. >> Me and Mickey. Who'd like to go first? Yes. All right. Uh, good evening everyone. So, I just like to talk about our homecoming week. So, Saturday, September 20th, we had our homecoming dance with the theme of night in New York City. And it was a really big hit for everyone. We had the addition of the was what do we call it? The snack shack. So, we allowed students to purchase snacks and water. And it was a really great time. You know, uh, I was personally a bit of a party animal. Um me and some of the upper classman boys, we started dance circles and conga lines and we had someone jumping over people and it was a great time for everyone. Uh and then the next week afterwards we had our spirit week. So for dressup days, it was great to see everyone you know participate in that. It really lied the energy within the school walls. And then that Friday, September 26th, we had our pep fest with the hungry hungry hippos as you saw. And then we our tailgate and parade. And then last but not least, we had our homecoming game against Robinsdale Armstrong, which we I'm proud to say that we won. And my highlight of that night was I don't I can't speak for me, but my highlight was for sure the student section. It was uh very lively, and I just love to see our community grow and the energy and the momentum that we've had for these past couple of years, and I hope it trickles down to other sports as well, and not just football. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Yes. And on the homecoming game, it was the first time we've won for homecoming in my four years. So, you know, one out of four. I guess I'll take it. >> Um, >> it happened on your senior year. >> Yeah. I mean, if it's going to happen. Yeah. Um, other sports, girls and boys soccer are playing in the quarterfinal match tonight. Um, and then for tennis, we played our semifinals today. Unfortunately, we did lose to Mounds View, but um yesterday we flipped a match against Rogers. We lost in the regular season, but then we won yesterday, so that was very exciting for us. And then individual sections start on Monday for us. And then football, of course, won last week over Cooper and then they face Buffalo on Friday. Um another Another fun thing that's happening around the school, I guess, Panther Mentors. Um, of course, the program that mentors the freshman's that are coming into SLP. Um, everyone is sort of settling into that program. It's now gone on for like a month. We have a meeting with them tomorrow and, uh, you mentioned the fall play. The freshmen do have a chance to go and view that for free after school. Um, additionally, uh, choir and band had their first concerts. So, um, everything is ramping up around school and yeah, we're looking forward to the next couple of months. >> Awesome. Thank you. Board members, we'll start on this side. Any updates? >> Yeah. Um, so what's great about I don't have a specific sport update, but I have an observation or activity update. So, I was here a couple weeks ago for my kiddos's um in in induction into NHS, National Honor Society, and um it's always so fulfilling to me to come in and there was not a spot open in the parking lot. Not because of National Honor Society, though that was packed in and of itself. And by the way, if you have never been to one, they light candles and so a hundred kids on risers with live candles. That'll make everybody just hold their breath till that's over. But um but the the fact was is that particular day we had so 100 kids that got um inducted plus there was a swimming and dive meet plus there was kids out on the soccer field plus plus plus and so like there's not a spot to park in the best way possible. So I I would just say like I'm always there's always hubbhub around school and there's how much we use the buildings and our facilities all all day long all night long you know like all the things. So, >> any other updates? Turn to this one. >> I do. I agree though that that homecoming game that is I've gone to the last eight. I've had a few kids in this section of my life and that is the most >> people I have ever seen. It was wild. It was lit. Just kidding. It was It was amazing. I thought it was really fun. So, I loved that. So, on to real things now. Um, I went to the lighthouse uh PTO meeting and I always love going there because it is it is a totally different experience and the the board there. Is it the board? Is that what you call it? Yeah, it would be right. Yeah, the members the the officers. There we go. The officers, they're so passionate and they get a lot done. It's a small group because it's a smaller school, but they are passionate. And one thing that they have coming up on the 10th. So does that Saturday? >> Is that No. Yes. >> Friday. Thank you. >> They have their celebration for their um fundraiser. So they're having that. And so they're having people come in between 1:45 and 3:00 for games and different things with the students um celebrations, little snack bag, things like that. The other thing I wanted to say is in January they're doing their movie night and craft night. And then the last thing I want to mention about them is that they are looking for more um members because their officers are going to roll out of their two-year uh commitment. So having a member step in now to learn a little bit would be helpful. So if anyone is interested in that, you can contact me or you can actually contact Lighthouse and they can help you get set up with that. >> Thanks. 9:16 meeting was interesting because everybody was there. When you have 13 members that doesn't happen very often so everybody was there. Uh the primary presentation was regarding their language access plan and the 916 community includes families who speak over 40 different languages in the home and these families represent 26% of the district. So quite a bit a lot of that language is in the ALC's of which Metro Heights in Fredley is the largest by far of the three. So lots of different languages spoken there and approval was given to insurance renewals and I have numbers if any one is interested on that. For me personally, I've talked to you about delegate assembly. There are more people who have signed up than there are spots available. So, I believe you have had some correspondence from Minnesota School Boards Association about voting and I would appreciate your voting. If you wish to bullet vote, that is helpful. Otherwise, if you have other persons you would like to vote for, I can help you through that process. >> Yes. >> Yep. Exactly. >> Absolutely. >> Anything else? >> All right. Thank you, Marilyn. >> Okay. Moving into close session. Can I get a motion? >> So, moved by Hennon, >> second. Second by Forsber to enter into close session to discuss employee negotiations at >> 811. >> 811. >> All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. We are now entering close session. Thank you everyone.