- I now call this meetingof the School Board of Independent SchoolDistrict 624 to order. Will the clerk please call the roll. - Daniels, here. Ellison.- Here. - Streiff Oji.- Here. - Thompson.- Here. - Arcand.- Here. - All right, if we now standfor the Pledge of Allegiance. And I can stand for once. - [All] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. - We have an agenda before us. Can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- All right, Ellison, do we have a second?- Second. - Second by Streiffoji. Is there any discussion? This will be a voice vote. All in favor say aye. - [Members] Aye. - Opposed, same sign. Motion carries.(gavel bangs) We also have before us a consent agenda. This contains a variety of business items that come to us monthlyincluding donations. We are truly grateful forthe support shown every month to our staff and students. Thank you for all thosethat made contributions. Can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- Okay, we have a motion, second? - Second.- Second by Thompson. Any discussion? Thiswill be a roll call vote. Will the clerk please call the roll. - Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Streiffoji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. We have a consent agenda. We had nobody sign up for public forum so we'll just move on past that. We're going to start now with C1 Student Recognition, Dr. Kay. - Thank you Chair Arcand,members of the board. Tonight, we proudly recognizethe outstanding achievements of students from our trap andskeet, baseball, softball, girls wrestling, and boys wrestling teams. Congratulations to allof you on your state and national level recognitions. As a token of their accomplishment, students have received acertificate, a bear pin, and a congratulatory letter. Our dedicated staffand supportive families who made these successes possible. Please join us now inwatching a video showcasing their achievements. Go Bears! (bright music) (bright upbeat music) - Okay, congratulationsto all those athletes and participants. Right now, we're going to moveon to information item C2, Superintendent's Report. - All right, thank you, ChairArcand, members of the board. We have a few items tonight. The district recentlymailed a Bears update to all district residents. The full-page postcardis sent to residents at the end of each academic year and highlights district graduations, the retirement celebration, notice of free senior activities passes, and updates on our district-wideconstruction projects. Last week, we hosted oursecond annual Spirit Night at Marketfest and workedwith the fire department to take an aerial orange out photo. Thank you to those whostopped by to say hello. 4th Street was lined with over 15 district and student activity booths. The night was live withlaughter, meaningful connections, and a celebration ofall things White Bear. Please continue to findus at the district's booth on 3rd Street each Thursday through July to pick up a pencil and a Bear paw tattoo. Tickets to Mamma Mia, asummertime production offered through our Community Services Department, are now available. The show will run July24th through the 27th and will be performed at the High School Performing Arts Center. The link purchase ticketscan be found in a news post on the district's website. The school district's students, family, and community engagement team is hosting a free ready for school eventfrom 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, August 9th at WhiteBear Lake Area High School. A limited number of new backpacks and school supplies will be available along with free schoolvaccines and sports physicals, food, important districtand community resources, and fun activities for the whole family. White Bear Lake AreaSchools Nutrition Services is sponsoring free summermeals for kids and teens at several locations in the district. The meals are open to allchildren aged 18 and younger. The program has no enrollment requirement and no cost and the healthy meals are based on USDA nutrition guidelines. Find locations and hourson the district website. We continue to hire forthe 2025-'26 school year. We need substitute teachers,bus drivers, para-educators, extended day nutrition servicesstaff members and more. We offer competitivewages, flexible work hours and a chance to make a differencefor kids in our community. Find job postings on thewebsite under employment. All right, and finally, as we prepare for the '25-'26 school year, we want to remind families that we are currentlyaccepting enrollment. Please give your child enrolled today, please get your child enrolled today so we can welcome them intothe White Bear community and get them prepared fora terrific school year. Find information on thedistrict website under enroll. That's it. - Thank you, Dr. Kazmierczak. Moving right along then, we're gonna go to discussion item D1. This is the first reading ofschool board policies 418, 501, 503, 515, 516, 534, 621,and 707, 709, 802, and 806. I just want to say that I want to thank the policy committee. These policies have beenreviewed by the policy committee and they do a great jobof continuing to update. There's a lot of work done there so with that, I'll open it up. Do we have any questions about those? If you do you can tell us thepage it's on so we can look. - I don't have any questions, I just have a couple comments. I appreciate the resourceswhen you read the policies and at the end of the policies, they give not only the state statute, but they give resources thathelped the policy committee and the district make gooddecisions about the policy, so I was thinking about the read act one and how they included immersion, education and I really appreciated that and also the one on school crisis where they talked aboutthe I love you guys and the safe and sound schools training that many of our districtemployees have attended and really helps formulate those policies. So thank you to the committeeand also the resources. - Okay, anything else? I just want to remind everyone that these policies helpguide the superintendent and the cabinet to createand run the district so this is the guidingprinciples that they use so we appreciate all the work. These will come back to uson August 11th for approval so you still got some timeto go through and look at it. If you have any questions don't be afraid to give us a call ortalk to Dr. Kazmierczak with any questions before that time. All right, we're gonna move right along to procedural item A1 or is it? Sorry, I gotta turn this over. E1, Action on Resolutionto Renew Membership in the Minnesota HighSchool League for '25-'26, Dr. Kazmierczak. - Yeah, this is an annual approval item. Allows our teams to compete in the State High SchoolLeague sponsored activities. So you were sent a link for a video and your board members areasked to watch that prior to acting on the resolution this evening. But yeah, without goinginto a whole lot more, it's an annual resolution that ensures our students can participate in the high school league activities. So very valuable resource for us in the state high school league. - [Scott] You've heard the recommendation, can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- Okay. But Ellison, do we have a second? - Second.- Second by Thompson. Any discussion? Yes, Miss Thompson. - Just a comment on whenwe watch these videos. This year really focused a lot on players and our students who are athletes and their wonderful words of wisdom of how parents can supportthem by being more engaged in like just their childand not really putting all that added pressure on them that parents can often do at a game. The kids know what they're doing, they know what their sport involves and then takes from them andthey really do their best to play their hardest in every single game or activity they participate in. And really just hearing, like I just think all parentsor anyone who has kids, or even if you're agrandparent, or a participator who just goes and watchessporting activities would really benefitfrom watching the video and listening to the students just give their words to wisdom. I'm always just amazed by how, well, I shouldn't say I'm amazed, our students are very brilliant and they're smart youngleaders of the future. So it isn't surprising thatthey have such great words of wisdom for everybody tokind of follow along by. And it's just always niceto have that reminder of how engaged they areand how much they care about the things that they participate in. - Anybody else? I just want to remind everybody that it's not just athletics,but it's extracurricular. It could be speech and debate. It could be one act play. There's so many things that are out there. Why this is important? Why do we have this in our school system? Well, one of the thingsthat teaches our students, it teaches them to work hard. It teaches them teamwork. It teaches them some of thework skills they have to have for the world. They learn to fail. They learn to overcome. They learn to continue to move forward. These are the things thatour programs are offering these students. And it also gives them an opportunity to be part of the school. And we know that when kids feel like they're part of a school,they're more successful and they feel more belonging, that everything's runs smoother. So these are important activities, important extracurricularactivities for our students. And it's not about winning championships. It's not about how manymedals you can win. It's about participating andlearning and working as a team. I think that's important to remember. So I just wanted to get that in there. Any other discussion? Hearing none, this would be a voice vote so all in favor ofapproving/renewing our membership to Minnesota High School League say aye. - [Members] Aye. - Opposed, same sign. Okay, motion carries.(gavel bangs) Operational item E2, Actionon the Resolution of Approving the 916 Long-Term FacilityMaintenance plan, Mr. Wald. - Good evening Chair Arcand,members of the board, Dr. Kazmierczak. Annually, the School boards of intermediate school districts approve their long-term facilitiesmaintenance budget and as we are members of the 916 Intermediate SchoolDistrict Northeast Metro, 916 Intermediate School District and its board has recentlypassed its LTFM budget for FY-27 It is our responsibilityas a member district to pay our share of that. It's calculated using a blended rate utilizing net tax capacity andthe ratio of ADM utilization by each district and sothat's all broken down in the board packet. You can see what each district is paying. We're paying 9.3% of that $55,376.72. There's a resolution in theboard packet today as well. The recommended action is to accept the resolution approvingNortheast Metro 916 intermediate school district's long-termfacility maintenance program budget and authorizing the inclusion of a proportionate share of those projects in the district's application for Fiscal Year 2027 long-term facilities and maintenance revenue inthe amount of $55,376.72 as presented. - Do we have any questions for Mr. Wald before we move forward? Okay, so you've heard the recommendation, can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- By Thompson, a second? - Second.- Okay, second. Is there any further discussion? Okay, this will be a roll call vote. Will the clerk please call the roll? - Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Streiffoji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. Motion carries. (gavel bangs) We're gonna move right alongto operational item E3, Action on 10-year Long-TermFacility Maintenance Plan. There again, Mr. Wald. - Okay, we'll stay focusedon LTFM plans and this time it's our school district's LTFM plan. Annually, the school boardis required to approve the district's long-termfacilities maintenance 10-year plan which is then submitted tothe Commissioner of Education by July 31st and it must indicate whether the district will issuebonds to finance the plan. Reminder and the purposeof LTFM in statute, to provide sustainablepredictable capital funding for facilities maintenance,ADA compliance, as well as health and safety expenses and for improvements in that area. In the board packet tonightis the 10-year LTFM plan, the revenue and expenditure plans, as well as a more detailedplan breaking down projects, specifically for the first few years and then those become reallycategorical placeholders as we look out, you know, to year 10. The state authorizes tworevenue sources for LTFM. One is local levy revenue and the other is LTFM bond proceeds. Our revenue projections,LTFM levy for FY '26 and '27 is in that range of $5 million each year. And LTFM bonds are projected to be sold on a mostly every other year basis, beginning in 2026, '28, '30, '32, and then not for twoyears, and then in 2035. On the expenditure side,we have LTFM expenditures of $22 million in FY-26. Recall that some LTFM bonds were included in the tax impact statementsof the 2019 bond referendum and we've been using those funds to tackle deferredmaintenance projects alongside our referendum projects. The remaining balance of those LTFM bonds will be spent down in the next few years. FY-27, we project plannedexpenditures of 13.5 million. The last page in thepacket highlights projects that we'll be tackling in coming years. In 2026, it's a little bit more detailed if Kevin Fernandez come on up. Kevin will just highlighta little bit about in his first few years whatprojects he'll be taking on. - Thank you. Mr. Chair, members of theboard, good to see you. With this, as Tim stated, we kind of look at someof the knowns that we know are things that we have todo and we kind of look at it, I kind of look at it in a one, three, five-year kind of thing. One is immediate thingsthat we need to address. Three are things that we know are based on forecastedperiodic maintenance. Things we know we're gonnahave to do in the long run. Roofs and flooring and things like that. And then the five-year issomething we operate off of through a facility assessmentthat was done back in 2018 that we continue to pickaway on as we move forward. Some highlights for the upcoming year. I kind of break it down inthe interior and exterior. Interior is going to be things such as, we've got the boiler replacementof Birch Lake Elementary. We have a chiller replacement at Oneka with building automation system, basically what makes it work. A lot of the mechanical, a lot of the HVAC interior airindoor quality kind of items. We continue an aggressive transfer of our lighting controlsand lighting to LED, which is actually come2026 is a state mandate where you can you can nolonger purchase non-LED bulbs and fixtures throughout. And we've been aggressive on that. That's been three years ofconstant progress in that arena. We have other things thatwe'll be doing interior with flooring, whether it'scarpet, tile, issues like that, that we just know they've run their gamut. I know we have some elementaryfocus on maybe some art rooms that we're going to maybe transfer over, so be a room here or therethat we take the carpet out of. That's interior. Exterior, we're looking atthings such as roof replacement. You know, we've talked aboutNorth Campus High School. We have Sunrise Mariner. We have tennis courts we'regoing to replace at Mariner this upcoming season. Parking lots, we're going to be doingVadnus Heights Elementary and out here at Sunrise,we have some of that. Windows are another one. We're at that time of the window life that we need to do sometuck pointing and sealing and items like that. So it's really an indoor/outdoor focus. I really like to makelet every school know they've been impactedin one form or another. We've been to your site thisyear and we've done X, Y and Z and spread that across allthe district facilities. So with that, that's pretty much the focus in a broad nutshell if I could. - And we know that along the way, there will be someunexpected maintenance issues that come up and sothis plan can be shifted and they mentioned thatsome of those funds as you look outward are in categories and we probably will beshifting some of those. Each year, we'll bringa 10-year plan to you and will make those shifts along the way. So that's what we have,the recommended action is for the board to approve the 10-year long-termfacility maintenance plan as presented. - Okay, you've heard the recommendation, can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- Ellison, okay, a second? - Second.- Second by Streiffoji. Any questions or comments? - So when you make theseprojections, going out, so many different factorscan change these projections. How often do you come back to this or I'm thinking about the tariffs. Is that gonna impact this windows, whatever it is that, youknow, any of the maintenance? - We're constantly under review with it. Constantly updating as wework through this project like I said in a 1 to 3 to 5-year, we don't know, those are those unknowns and that have what it's caused already is we've had to adjust some of that stuff so if we had a projectwe were planning to do and then all of a suddenthe tariff costs went up, we sort of back off,give ourselves a cushion and maybe something doesn'tget that done that year, but then it kind of gets pushed back and then we bring itback up and we just trust and hope those don't stay long-term that they mellow out and we'reable to get back on track, but it means thatsomething may not get done. - So you just constantly evaluating. - Constant evaluation.- These budget numbers. - Correct.- Okay. - Yeah and some of itemscan be back burner items for a while and, you know,when they work their way up to the somethingunexpectedly works its way to the front burners and, you know, things sit on the backburner a little bit longer, but we remain flexible andthis gets reworked every year. - Yes, Ms. Daniels.- I was just going to say the infrastructure, theschools are so important, but they're not things thatpeople can normally see or notice so much, so I thinkit's I really appreciate the fact that you're so detailedand looking at every school and see what it needs because it matters even if people don't noticeit, it really matters. So thanks. - Any other questions? Okay, well, in hearing none, this would be a roll call vote. I'll ask the clerk toplease call the roll. - Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Streiffoji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. (gavel bangs)Motion carries. We're now on operational item E4, Action on Official Depositories for the School District Funds and Authorized Bank Accountsand Signatures, Mr. Wald. - Thank You, Chair Arcand. This is an annual approval we bring to the board every January, but then when we have staffing changes in our finance office webring it back for approval. So this change is to remove,is in the electronic transfers, we removed Sarah Andrewho recently resigned and added April Liverswho will serve in the role of finance specialist. So recommended action is approve the list of official depositoriesfor school district funds and authorized bank accountsand signatures for 2025. - [Scott] Okay, we'veheard the recommendation, can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- Thompson, second? - Second.- Second by Ellison. Any further discussion? Hearing none, this willbe a roll call vote. Will the clerk please call the roll. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Streiffoji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. Motion carries. - All right, thank you.- Thank you. Now we're going to operational item E5, Action on the Designationof Identified Official with Authority for the MDE External User AccessRecertification System, Dr. Kazmierczak. - All right, thank you ChairArcand, members of the board. So that was a verydescriptive agenda item. I don't know if I haveto go into it too much, but this is an annual action item by the board authorizing me to be that identifiedofficial with authority. Unfortunately, it's an acronym of IOwA, if you're not an Iowa fanyou got to put up with that, but anyway, so the recommended action is, I'll read it and thenif there are questions about it I'll certainly entertain those, but move to approve WayneKazmierczak, Superintendent and Rachael Markuson, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent toadd and remove names only for Rachel's designation there as White Bear Lake areaschools identified officials with authority as required by the Minnesota Department of Education. So if there's any questions about that I'm happy to answer them, butthis is just an annual thing so we keep up to date withwho has who has approval who has access to certainfunctions on them, the Department of Education website so keeps things rolling. - [Scott] Okay we'veheard the recommendation, can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- Thompson, second? - Second.- Okay, Streiffoji. Any further discussion? Well, this will be a voice vote. All in favor say aye. - [Members] Aye. - Opposed, same sign. (gavel bangs)Motion passes. Okay, so now we are onoperational item E6. It's going to be Action on School Board Policy702, 720, 729 and 732. These came before us forthe first reading in May. Is that right? - Oh, I only see 613.- I only 613. It's on that tonight. - Okay maybe my notes are wrong, so... - Graduation-- Just double check... Looks like it's just 613.- Okay, let me try again. The action that we'rebringing forward policy 613, just came before us inMay, sorry about that. I didn't write it down correctly. So can I get any... First off, any discussion on 613? Okay, can I get a motion to approve 613? - So moved.- Okay, Streiffoji. Second?- Second. - Second by Ellison. Any discussion? I just want to say remind us the reason this is comingforward as we've changed the schedule at the high school so they had to adjust it to make it match. So that's pretty straightforward. All right, so we have amotion in front of us. This will be a voice vote. All in favor say aye. - [Members] Aye. - All opposed, same sign. Motion passes.(gavel bangs) Thank you, Ms. Ellisonfor catching that for me. Okay, it's now time for board forum. Are there any membersthat would like to share? Yes, Ms. Thompson. - I had the wonderful pleasureof attending Marketfest this past week for our GoBears orange out night. And it's always wonderful to just be there and be part of the communityand have so many visitors. We get to put the beartattoos on young and old. Everybody comes, everybodyloves the bear tattoos. And even just seeing how manypeople come into our community from outside of the community,even from other states that are maybe visiting familyor just on a vacation here. and how much they justlove White Bear Lake and the small town feel, but also it's a big town environment. It's just always a great night. So I encourage everybodyto go on Thursday nights and just be out and be in the community. It's wonderful. The addition of the Go Bearsthis year that they made, kudos, that was wonderful. - Okay, anybody else? - Yes, Ms. Ellison. - Just real briefly, I wanted to say that I think it's wonderfulthat there's opportunities in the district for ourstudents to get jobs in the district for the summer. I think that helps builda lot of responsibility and then investment back in the schools. And there's many placeswhere students can jump in to get a job in the summer. So thank you for making thisavailable to our students. It's good, get them workand make some money. You want that Switch, go buy it yourself. (members chuckling) - All right. I just wanna mention that, many of you know that I'vebeen on the executive team for the Ramsey CountyLeague of Local Governments. And in June, we had a sustainability for school districts andfor city governments. And I put the call in tosee if somebody could help. And Mr. Wald stepped up, and he talked about whatthe district is doing, whether it was our busing,electric buses, or solar panels, other things we do, and heknocked it out of the park. And most of the people that were there, I should say all of them, were extremely impressedon your presentation. And it was well presented,and they were very impressed. And so I took credit for it. (attendees laughing) But I just wanna thank you, because it's nice to be ableto come and ask for things from Ramsey CountyLegal Local Governments, which we are a part of, and we've always steppedup and done a great job. So I just need to thank you publicly for what you did for us, thank you. Okay, anything else? Okay, well, the next two agenda items will be conducted in closed session. Labor negotiations will be closed to consider strategiesof labor negotiations, including negotiationstrategies or developments, or discussions and reviewlabor negotiation proposals conducted pursuant to MinnesotaStatute 179A.01 to 179A.25. Also, review of thesuperintendent's evaluation may be closed to discussevaluation of superintendent pursuant to MinnesotaStatute 13D.05 sub 3A. Can I get a motion tomove into closed session? - So moved.- Okay, by Daniels. Can I get a second?- Second. - All right. All in favor? Ithink this can be a voice vote. All in favor say aye. - Aye.- All opposed, same sign. Okay, we are gonna go to closed session. So then what will happen iswe'll go to closed session, then we'll come back out backinto the session to adjourn.