- Meeting of the School Board of Independent SchoolDistrict 624 to order. Will the clerk please call the roll? - Daniels here. Skaar? - Here. - Streiff Oji? - Here. - Thompson.- Here. - Arcand.- Here. - Beloyed.- Here. - Can we please stand forthe Pledge of Allegiance. - [All] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to Republic for which itstands, one nation, under God. Indivisible, with libertyand justice for all. (audience chattering) - Okay, we are on proceduralitem A4, the mission statement. Vice Chair Thompson, willyou read our mission? - Yes, the mission ofthe White Bear Lake Area School District community. The community at the forefrontof educational excellence, honoring our legacy andcourageously building the future is to ensure each student realizes their unique talents and abilities, and makes meaningful contributions with local and global impact through a vital system distinguished by students who design andcreate their own future. A culture that respectsdiverse people and ideas. Safe, nurturing, andinspiring experiences. Exceptional staff and familiescommitted to student success. Abundant and engaged community partners. - Thank you. Okay, we havea before us an agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? - So moved.- So moved. - Okay, Thompson a second, Beloyed. Is there any discussion? - Yes. - Yes. Mr. Skaar? - I'd like to suggest addingtwo items to the agenda. So the first one is toaddress parents' concerns with the fourth, fifth gradeclassroom consolidation. How is this helpful to student success? That would be my first item. - So you have a motion on the floor to add parent concerns under discussion? - Add to the, yeah, to the agenda. - Under the discussionitems. Do I have a second? Do I have a second? Do I have a second? Okay, motion fails and? - Add a second itemregarding student safety. What actions did the districtdo to confirm eligibility of the 22-year-old afterimmediate enrollment? Consistent with the McKinney-Vento Act? And can the board be presentedthe investigation report that the district hasclaimed to be performed, which would includethe corrective actions? - Is there a second? Is there a second? Is there a second? Okay, motion fails. We have in front of us still an agenda, and we have it, and we have it seconded. Is there any further discussion? Okay, this will be a voicevote. All in favor say aye. - [All] Aye. - Opposed? Same sign. - Nay. - Okay, motion carries five to one. 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 community and everyone, for all the donations andsupport we get with our schools. Can I get a motion toapprove the consent agenda? - So moved. - Okay, Daniels, a second. - Second. - Second by Streiff Oji. Any discussion? - Mr. Chair? - Yes, sir. - On the minutes, I'd like to suggest acorrection to the minutes. During the discussion on April, was it April 13th on the federal audit? I was recognized and spoke regarding the need foran operational audit. Member Ellison interruptedme while I was speaking by calling the questionfor an immediate vote. Calling the question cannot be used to interrupt the board member and therefore it was out of order. The chair should have calledMember Ellison out of order. The minutes should read thatMember Ellison was out of order and the chair shouldhave allowed Member Skaar to complete his thoughts on the matter. So I'm requesting thatthe minutes show that. - So we have a motion tochange, alter the minutes? So I have a second. Do I have a second? - I'll give a second. - Okay, a second. Open for discussion. Any discussion to change it? - I would wanna just clarifythat we can make sure that that is the proper procedurebefore we make the change. - Okay, we could have somebody, our parliamentary person look it up and see if that is correct. - Okay. Do you want me to do? - I was hoping maybe Rachelcould look it up too. - Okay. Okay. - And let us know. - Okay. Let us know, okay? - Okay. - So as of now, we won'tchange the minutes. - On this, now we won't, but we have the motion on the table. So are we comfortablewith the moving forward till we find out? - Sure, we could table theapproval of the minutes until we find that out,and then go, you know, approve the rest of the consent agenda. - So right now we're gonnaapprove the consent agenda, except the minutes. Can I get a amendment tothe motion to do that? Okay. Mr. Skaar, is there a second? - Second. - Second, so at this point on the table we have the consent agendaonly without the minutes, this'll be a roll call vote. Can we call the roll? - Daniels? Aye. Or here?- Aye. - Streiff Oji. - Here.- Aye. - Aye.- Aye. I'm sorry, Thompson.- What are we doing right now? - Yeah, I'm not sure what we were asking just to say that we're agreeing? - We're agreeing to the consent agenda. - Gotcha, gotcha. - Except the minutes. - I was typing down here. Okay, Thompson. - Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - Skaar. - Aye. - Thank you.- Okay, passes 6-0. - Sorry about that. - So now we should by rule, we are supposed to tablethe tabled item next, but with permission of theboard, I'm gonna move that back and when we find out, I'll putit when we do the decisions. All right, so now we'regonna go ahead then and move up to public forum. Public forum is a portion of this meeting. The public forum allows upto three minutes per speaker. We have two requests tonight,Ms. Delaney and Mr. Arcand. With one minute remaining,you will see an orange card, which will be held up. With 30 seconds, a yellowcard will be held up, and at the end of threeminutes we'll tap the gavel and let you know it's done. School district policyand data privacy laws preclude personal andstudent matters or data from being discussed publicly. Speakers may not makeallegations, charges, or complaints againstany student or employee. Speakers, we'll call you upone at a time to the microphone and be recognized. Only those members who havebeen recognized may speak. Members of the audiencemay not engage in conduct that disrupts any part ofthe school board meeting or otherwise impedes theschool board's ability to conduct business. After the three minutes are up, I still give you theoption, I have the question. Tell me one hope and dream you have for your child or children? After the three minutesyou can answer that. - That he would usually introduce. And it is our student recognition video. We are proud to celebrate the achievements of our middle schoolers who have participated in the history day at state and national levels, along with our high schoolstudents who have accomplished, have had great accomplishments in the Hennepin Arts Spotlight Showcase. So congratulations toeach of the students. And then also, of course, weextend an sincere gratitude to the dedicated staff and family members who have supported thesestudents along the way. They have obviously been vital in the role in getting to that state andnational success as well. So thank you to those supporters and congratulations to our students. So we'll play the tape. (energetic music) (energetic music continues) - [Scott] Thank you very much. - Thank you. - And since you brought it up, Dr. Kazmierczak is absent tonight. He has some family businesshe's taking care of, so he'll be back next Monday. (staff member speaking faintly) Okay. Okay. All right, next on our agenda, we have the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Tour, Dr. Gillespie. - [Alison] Yeah, ChairArcand, members of the board. I'm gonna introduce from over here so that our students andstaff members can come up and then I'll sit behind them in case there's questions atthe end that I need to answer. I'd like to introduce AaronTurner and Lakisha Lipscomb student support specialistsfrom Central Middle School and our high school who'vesupported our students along with they havethree students with them who would also talkabout this annual trip. And so I'll have you guys introduce yourselves and the students. Thank you so much. Welcome. - Good evening. - [Scott] Welcome. - Good evening, I'm Lakisha. - Hi, my name is Destiny. - Hi, my name is Nevaeh. - Hi, my name's Bailey. - Okay, thank you forallowing us to speak today and share the impact theHBCU tour has had with our, has had on our students and what this experience has meant to us. - [Assistant] Can we have hermove the mic a little closer? - All right, so tonight. - [Scott] If you could moveyour mic just a little closer so we can make sure we canhear you, forward that, thank you. - [Lakisha] Okay, go down, this part. All right, tonight we'll briefly go over the purpose of the tour,the program history, district alignment, studentexperience, and the impact this experience continuesto have on our students. - [Aaron] The purpose of the tour, this tour was intentionally created to expose students tocollege culture, opportunity, and possibilities beyondwhat they may normally see. For many students, this experience helped make collegesfeel real and obtainable. Our program history, this tour was started during the '22-'23 school year, and has continued growing each year. Since then, over 80 studentsfrom White Bear Lake and the ALC has participatedin this experience. This spring was our fourth year. - [Lakisha] All right, this experience aligns with the districtcommitment to belonging, student growth, leadership, and meaningful learning experiences beyond the classroom. Students were able toexperience campus life firsthand through tours, studentpanels, cultural experience, and leadership conversationsthroughout the week. One of the most meaningful parts were a former White Bear Lakestudent now in college helping lead those tours andguide our current students. - [Aaron] A part of some of the colleges, if you could take a look, someof the colleges we visited. Florida A&M, AlabamaState, Louisiana State, Hampton, Norfolk, the listgoes on and on and on. Some of the historical sites, we also visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a really cool experience. And the kids got to bea part of Legacy Walk. We actually got out and walked the bridge. So that was really cool to do. Also, the Alabama River boat ride where they just explainedsome of the history of the country theretoo as well, so, yeah. - [Lakisha] All right, we saw students return froma lot of those experiences with confidence and motivation and open to post-secondary opportunities and future planning. This experience helpedstudents think bigger about what is possiblefor them in the future. I'd like to open the floor for the students to be able tospeak about their experience. - So our first question thatwe want for you to answer is, what was the most impactful part of the HBCU tour for you personally? Bailey? - I would say the mostimpactful part of the HBCU tour for me personally was justgetting me out of Minnesota, specifically outta mybubble and into a culture, or I should say the other half of me. I am mixed biracial,and I grew up in an area where I was only surroundedby one half of me or one part of my culture. I didn't really have that muchof an influence in my life. Showing me, like the otherhalf of me in this trip as well as Mr. Turner and Miss L have gotten me more exposed to who I am, which I never really thoughtwas possible growing up, or I did think was possible, but I didn't have thoseresources available for me that they did create for me. The other part was opening up to college. I always knew I wanted to go to college. I wanna major in biology andbecome an orthopedic surgeon. But going to these colleges firsthand taught me how I can get there. And also open up to abunch of other colleges that I didn't even know exists. Before going on my first tour, I did not know what an HBCU was. Now that I'm so like really, really, reallywanna go to an HBCU, I'm very droven to succeed at an HBCU where I now know what goals I wanna have, what I wanna do at an HBCU, as well as how an HBCUcan set me up for success in my future as a surgeon. - Something that impacts me on, sorry, on these, on this thinking. Yeah, on the HBCU trip. Kind of like leachingoff of what Bailey said, really stepping outsideof my comfort zone, but also holding myselfaccountable at the same time. Making sure that I drivemyself to go out there and find resources andopportunities that I can take. And thanks to them wewere able to get those, and they're not reallyoffered to everybody out. And also like one of our big sayings here at White Bear Lake is belonging. And before I was on the HBCU trip, I didn't feel like I belonged because I was surrounded with people who knew what they were gonna do or knew what they wanted to do. And so now that I've reached this trip, I can say that I belongbecause I know what I wanna do and now I can go into a classroom and say I wanna be like this, so I'm gonna continue to strive. - That's funny. - Okay, question two for you, Destiny. How did this experience change the way you think about your future or college? - I did go on the tour forthe first time as a sophomore. So it was a lot. It was abus full of upperclassmen. I was like one of the onlyunderclassmen, one of the three. So it was kind of differentto be in that environment, and in that situation at such a young age. As a freshman and sophomore, you're not really thinkingabout what you want to go do three, four years from now. But it was really nice tobe put in the situation to think about it, and to think about whatI can do here at home when I did come back from the trip, what I can do to benefit my future, or how to take those steps to get there. I did go and revisit acouple schools this spring, so it was kind of niceto see two years ago, two, three years ago where Iwas, how I seen the campus, going my junior year and then senior year seeing how totallydifferent my glasses were. Like I had some goggles on, it was more like serious business trip. It wasn't really like, "Yay I get a trip." It was really serious for me, and I took that as an opportunity to really get serious about my future and see what I have in store for that. - We brought Destiny here. How has the trip changed your future? - This month it's May, so yeah, this month I actually committedto Alabama State University. It was my second time. Thank you. (audience applauding) - Jack it down. - It was my second timegoing back this spring. So again, I went as a sophomore. I really did fall in love with the campus. I think I more so loved it from my friend. She knew she wanted to go toAlabama, so I was really there to hype her up about it. But honestly when I went backI fell in love with the campus and it was somewherewhere I did see myself. So I went ahead andtook that leap of faith and I did commit to there. So I will say if I wasn'tin the position to go to these dozens of schoolsin the last three years, I don't know what school I would've been ready toput myself in, honestly. I probably would'vejust took the safe route and went to school with my sister. She also graduated last year, and she committed to an HBCU in Louisiana. So that was really exciting to see. But again, it really, it made me think differenttotally about everything, and just going on the tour, seeing that I really haveto be doing this on my own, living alone, all that good stuff. It was really eye-opening to see to me. But yes, I'm ready to see whatAlabama has in store for me, and all the great opportunitiesthey have for me there. - Thank you for that, Des.Just a last question, Bailey. What would you say to another student who is thinking aboutparticipating on the HBCU tour? - I would say when talkingto another student, which I have done before about something, why they would wanna go on the HBCU tour, I would say that the HBCU tour is a life-changing experience. You will go on the trip and leave the trip awhole different person. You're on a bus with about 40 other kids that you may not know, youmay not, you may know some, and you leave with a family, as people who will always be there for you the rest of your life. I've made sisters and brothersthat I now care about deeply just by attending this trip. Not only that, like Mr. Turner has said, it's a motivational factor. A lot of kids go on the tripnot knowing about college, if they wanna attend it,if that's even for them. But I've seen it with my own eyes. People leave this trip nowthinking or thinking of college or even wanting to commit to college or did commit to a collegeif they are a senior, it's truly a life-changing experience. Also, on top of that,like I did say before, you get a cultural experience out of it. We go to museums, like the a museum, an African American museum and learn a ton about our culture that we don't get tolearn about in school. We also get to see artifactsfirsthand, see it for our eyes. The history that we alsodo learn in our textbooks. A big thing for me was whenI was in elementary school and still to this day, I got really impacted byHarriet Tubman's story. And I know when we went toan African American museum, we gotta see her artifacts,like right there to our face. Also things from slavery too,like certain items from that, it was really like, I know everyone wasemotionally moved by that. Another big part was theEmmett Till Memorial. That really impacted me really deeply. 'Cause that's something my dad always taught us about growing up. So it's a life-changing experience on multiple different levels, and I would recommend it to any student who is just open to attending it and see where that gets them. - I'll wrap it up with, this year six outta the seven students, out of our seven seniors, students, received acceptance offers. Every senior who has attended the tour has at least been offeredat a college at this time. Oh, and then personally wehave a chaperone on the trip who also continued their education and got into one of theschools while on the tour so that was impactful for them as well. So that yeah, that'ssomething really cool. We open it up. - All right. - For questions, right? - Yep, yeah, we can openup the floor for questions. - [Scott] All right, well thank you. I have a really easy one for you. Should we continue doingthis next year and beyond? - Oh yeah.- Of course. - Oh yeah. - Oh yeah. - Other questions? Any other board members have questions? Yes, Ms. Daniels.- Just a comment. I wanted to thank you,thank you for presenting and all of you havebeen very inspirational and I hope you inspire otherstudents, bigger groups to go, and it looks like anamazing number of colleges that you'd visited ina short period of time. I mean, all of these? - [Lakisha] Yeah, in the last two years. - [Aaron] No, in the last two years. The list that's on there.- Oh, this is two year's worth, okay.- That's the last two years, yes, yeah. - That makes a little bit, yeah. I thought, wow, that'sreally, really, fast. - [Aaron] I don't have that stamina, so. - Yeah, it was great. Thank you so much. - [Lakisha] Thank you. - I'm glad that you enjoyed it and I hope we continue in the future. Sounds like a great thing. - Okay, Ms. Beloyed. - Can I ask what grade each of you are in? - [Bailey] I'm a sophomore. - I'm also a sophomore. - And then I'm a senior. - [Deborah] Is it prettycommon for the sophomores to be the first group that goes and? - Yep, so the sophomores is, we have a lottery for freshmen, right? And then we wanted to pickup this steam going in. So sophomores, juniors, everyblue moon we get a senior who is undecided and really looking totry to lock in that last, we go in April, in the spring. So they lock in right there. So yeah. - Right before decision day, you know. - Yeah, I think great tostart working with kids at that age, at that level because they don't want to think about it. 'Cause you know, it seemslike it's a long way away, but if it inspires you to start thinking about what you're doing inclass and what your goals are, that gets you that muchcloser to it later on. So I think that's a perfect time to get the kids involved with it. And there's a lot of kids that never tour campuses, unfortunately. And they really should, evenif it's just the local ones to just get out and see what it is, whether it would be for you. - [Lakisha] I agree. - I love the program. Congratulations, you guys go with it. - [Lakisha] Over the horizon. Thank you. - You're done. I wanna makesure I didn't interrupt. You're done? Ms. Streiff Oji? - So I just wanted to thankyou for sharing your experience and experiences. I love the progressionof how you went early on and how it became aimportant business trip now. I also was introduced in innovative ways, like you all are introducingkids to a pathway to college and I really appreciate itbecause you are changing lives. So thank you. - Thank you.- Thank you. - [Scott] Ms. Thompson. - Ditto to everythingeveryone's already said. And then just like a compright to the 10th graders who are here now, you've gone and you probably have someideas of where you wanna go and you're thinkingabout what you wanna do. So get those collegecredits you can get now outta your way to help you. You know that college is expensive, but I'm just grateful for this program and really everything that you guys do. And how many students went this year? - [Aaron] This year wehad 38. 38 total, so. - From our? - [Aaron] From our school, from my school. - We had 38 bears that went. That is fantastic. I'm so excited. And Destiny, did we meet atthe White Bear Lake Area? I thought so. We were talking about this. So glad to hear you picked somewhere, and I'm sure all of yourdreams will come true now. - [Destiny] Thank you. - So thank you all for being here. - [Scott] Thank you. Mr. Skaar. - Thank you very much for presenting. I know it's tough, but this, you know, this is building characterwhen you're doing this, so it's a good thing. Which states did you guys visit? - So this year we went,we started in Florida, Florida A&M, and weworked our way back west. So we went to Alabama, so Alabama State, Tuskegee up in there. And then we worked ourway over to Mississippi, Jackson State, Alcorn, then worked our way over toLouisiana and back up, so. - [Daniel] What was the mostfun place you guys were at? - The beach. (all laughing) - [Daniel] Good answer. Thank you. - [Lakisha] Yeah,especially when it was cold. - Thank you. - Well, thank you very much. - [Aaron] And can Ijust add one more thing? - Yes, sir. - I just want to thank,you know the district for supporting us. I want to thank the communitywho has donated to us. I just want to use this open space and just say thank you'cause we appreciate it. - Good, so my last request asyou leave is after you finish, come back and brag to uswhen you finish your degree 'cause we'd love tohear from you then too. Thank you. - Cool.- Thank you. - Thank you.- Thank you. (audience applauding) - Okay, we're gonna transitionto our discussion item D1, first reading of the schoolboard policies 203.2, 208, 503, 649, and 902. These policies will be broughtback on June 8th's agenda for our second reading. Are there any questions that you have? And if you do, if you couldtell us the page number so we can scroll throughthe packet and find it. (audience chattering) Well, hearing none, then we'llbring that back in June 8th. Between now and June 8th. If something comes upand you're reading it and you say, "Oh, I shouldhave asked that question," please reach out to us sothat we can answer it for you and then we'll do that. I would like now to moveon to operational item E1, action to approve the nutrition services milk products contract. - [Member] Ooh. - [Scott] Somebody hitthe lights back there. - Don.- Here we go. - [Scott] Hey Mr. Wald. - It's just my dramatic entrance. (all laughing) Before you tonight, ChairArcand, members of the board is a approval for the nutritionservice milk contract. We last bid the milk contract in 2023 with the option to extendthe agreement for two years through the '25-'26 school year. So we bid the contract again this spring for the '26-'27 school yearwith an option to extend it to '27-'28 and '28-'29. Bids were opened on April 22nd, 2026, and two vendors submitted bids. After reviewing both bids, it's recommended the awardgo to the lower bidder, St. Paul Beverage Solutionsin the amount of $290,162, a difference of about70,000 from the next bid. I should note that milk iskind of a big deal in schools. We serve over 63,000gallons of milk each year. The equivalent of about1,038,000 cartons of milk. The coffee shop uses about800 gallons of milk each year. We use 450 gallons of buttermilk to make homemade ranch dressing. So milk is a big deal in our schools, and we continue to serve a lot of it. And our students drink a lot of it. So we recommend we approve the contract with St. Paul Beverage Solutionsfor Nutrition Services, liquid dairy milk productsfor the '26-'27 school year in the amount of $290,162. - [Scott] You've heardthe recommended action. Can I get a motion to approve? - [Christina] So moved. - [Scott] By Streiff Oji, a second. - [Angela] Second. - Second by Thompson.Is there any discussion? Mr. Skaar? - I've got a question. This is really kindof, maybe a little bit, it's adjacent to the milk program. It has to do with thefederal meal program. I had asked a question aboutthat at the work session about is it meaningfulto continue to record or to keep track of reduced meals that the federal government requires. So I'm wondering, and I knowthere was one school district, I can't remember what schooldistrict got into some issues with not completing thepaperwork for the federal program and lost a few million dollars, because I don't thinkthe federal government allows you to go backand recoup that money. If you don't file it, you're done. Do we have any risk associated, I know it's not related to milk, so I appreciate you guysindulging me on this, but we had a question froma citizen regarding that. And if that is occurring here,or we getting all of our, I mean, there's not alot of motivation to, I guess get the paperwork done because you're already getting the money, but it's still required. You're still getting the, we're still required to do the meals, but the funding requires the paperwork. Do we have any risk associated with that? - I don't know if there's risk associated, there's risk of losingrevenue if we don't, you know, if we don't maximize the numberof people who are eligible for the benefit who signed up for it. And so we work hard tocommunicate with families about the benefit. And there are other benefitsbeyond school lunches that come with it involved withparticipating in activities. There are some consumerbenefits that are available, you know, out in the marketfor people who qualify. Example would be Amazon Prime is available for a much lower rate for individuals who qualifyfor educational benefits, what we used to call thefree and reduced lunch. Well, on the paperwork nowit's educational benefits and there are others, mobile phone providersprovide reduced rates for people who qualify. So it's, you know, we try to get that wordout to our families. We've done actually a prettygood job of communicating that and maintained our level so that our compensatory revenuehas stayed pretty stable, you know, over the last several years. - Good, so we must havelike a point person that follows that program to make sure that we have the paperwork. - Yeah, our Nutrition Services Department takes the lead on that. - [Daniel] Do you remember thedistrict that was at a loss? It was a suburban district. I just don't recallit. It's not important. - Yeah, no, I don't,I know that, you know, some districts have lost, you know, their funding levels havedropped significantly and some have gone up, but I'm not sure whichone you're talking about. - [Daniel] Okay, thank you. - [Scott] Okay, Ms. Beloyed. - What was the contract in 2023?Do you remember the amount? - [Tim] It was about 242,000. So since 2023, the cost ofmilk has gone up about 20%. So that's 6 to 7% range per year. Since 2019 it's gone up almost 60%. - How much? - 60%. Yeah, so it's, yeah, I mean, it's a escalating price on the milk. So the cost of the milk,we have 290,000 here. The cost will actually reflect what the federal market order for milk is. So, or monthly the federalgovernment evaluates what the market rate of milk is, and then that's the price that we'll pay. So these contracts take the risk out of it for school districts and therisk out of it for the vendor. - So since they're takingthe risk out of it, there's no way, ifprices start to go down, there is no way to recoup that? - [Tim] If prices go down,our price will go down. - Over the two years. - Yeah, so, if next,if in September of 2026 the price drops for milk,our price will drop. Our expense will drop. If it goes up, our expense will go up. - [Deborah] Okay. - And this is a standard waythat school districts bid milk because no one would reallyoffer them a reasonable bid if they had to remove all risk from it. The contractor doesn't want tohave to live with that risk. They'd have to bid itmuch higher than this. - [Deborah] Thank you. - Okay. Other questions? Okay, hearing none, thiswill be a roll call vote. I'll ask the clerk to call the roll. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Skaar? - [Daniel] Aye. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - Okay. Motion carries. Now next, Mr. Wald we haveresolution on the property, sale of real property. - Thank you chair, again. Before you tonight is a resolution to declare the propertyat 4871 Bald Eagle Avenue as surplus property, and for the board to authorizethe sale of the property. The district acquired thisproperty in February of 2020. After we passed the bond referendum, our plan was to where possible expand the footprint of our high school and middle school site. But we thought that wouldbe a limited opportunity. And so we were consideringthe Lincoln Fields as a location that we wouldutilize for athletic fields for the high school and middle school. That plan changed becauseproperties near the high school, adjacent to the highschool became available. And so the district was ableto acquire more properties next to the high school, making this property no longer needed. So the recommendation is forthe board to approve the sale, to declare it as surplusproperty and approve the sale. In the packet tonight is aresolution that's been prepared by the district's bondattorney Peter Martin of Kennedy & Graven. And that resolution includesthree key provisions. First, that it's a formal declaration that we don't need the property anymore, declaring it as surplus property. Second, it grants thedistrict administration the authority to work withreal estate professionals, list the home, identify a, you know, reasonable purchase price, and to negotiate the saleof a purchase agreement. And then finally, it outlinesthe legal requirements of use of the sale of proceedsas per Minnesota statute. And so funds are to be deposited into the bond debt service fund to cover the principal and interest equal to the original bond-funded purchase and improvements on the property. Remaining net proceeds may be directed toward additional projectsor to acquire property. We expect that this property would do a little better than break even, perhaps leaving 20 to $30,000in the construction fund. Or to that effect. So the.- Can I, can I just interrupt for a second? - Yes. - In our packet it says theproperty is located at 4870. Technically it is 4871 BaldEagle Avenue. So it's at 71. I don't know if yourshas it. Mine doesn't. - Yeah, mine says 4871. - Okay. Mine is an older one then, sorry. - [Tim] Well, we don't wannasell someone else's property. - Yes, please. So, just so we're all aware it's 4871. That's all I wanted to make sure. - Thank you. So the recommendation, administration recommends theadoption of the resolution to allow the district to sell the property located at 4871 Bald Eagle Avenue as outlined in the enclosed resolution. - [Scott] All right. Can I get a motion toapprove the resolution? - [Kathleen] So moved. - [Scott] Ms. Thompson. Second. - [Deborah] Second. - I mean Daniels, second byBeloyed. Thompson and Beloyed. Any other questions? I just need clarification,just to make sure. We purchased this property from the owner. We did not take it by eminent domain. They offered it and we bought it. So that's real clear thatwe didn't take something and now we're gaining on it. We actually, the person sold it to us. - [Tim] That is true. - Okay. - And we recall that theboard, if it was a resolution, the board declared that theywould not take property. - Yep, but I just wannamake sure that was clear that we didn't take this andwe actually purchased it. Mr. Skaar. - So has the property already been sold? - [Tim] No. - Okay, I would think that if we could revise the resolution so that, because the way this worksis that this resolution gives staff authority tonegotiate and sell the property without the board reviewing the purchase, or the sale agreement, is that true? - No, it authorizes the board to, or it authorizes the administration to work with the realtor to list it and then it authorizesthe board chair and clerk to sign the (clicks tongue)purchase agreements. - [Daniel] So does, okay. So it does not go to thefull board for approval, is that? - Correct? This no, correct. This authorizes that process. Administration to goforward with listing it and then the board chairand clerk to assign it. - So the full board does notapprove the sales agreement or the purchase price. - Correct. That's the way this is written. - Right, I would suggest, Iwould just do a, you know, a revision that the agreement, the sales agreement should goto the full board for approval and that it should not bedelegated to two board members. It should be the full board to approve it. - Yeah, in the case of a, where you're listinga property to be sold, that would slow down the process and may lower the value of what you can sell the property for if it's held for a period of time for a board meeting to get scheduled. The resolution is for theschool board to say yes, work with a real estate professional, determine a fair price for the property, and then sell it for that. If in that negotiation we determine we're not able to get what we believe is a fairprice for the property, we could take a different, you know, a different approach to selling it. Postpone the sale for a period of time. - I understand the risks,my suggestion stands. - So right now we havea motion on the floor, recommendation of theadoption of the resolution to allow the district to sell the property located at 4871 Bald Eagle Avenue as outlined in the enclosed resolution. So what you're asking todo is make an amendment? - [Daniel] Right, you know. On the front.- In case they do. - Yeah, and the reasonis on the front end, during the process, aspart of the sale, you can, you know, make surethat whoever's buying it knows that it needs to gothrough board approval. - So we have in front of us an amendment to require board approval before sale. Do we have a second? Do we have a second? Do we have second. Okay,the amendment fails. So we still have in front of us the recommendation to accept. - Chair. Thank you. What is the statutoryrequirement when you're selling. when you're selling real propertylike this, does the board, does the board have, the fullboard have to approve it? Is there a statutory requirement that requires the full boardto approve a sale like that? - The statute requires theboard to authorize the sale but to approve the purchase agreement? No, it doesn't require that. If we were doing it by closedbids, then we would have a, then we would have a high bid and we would bring a bid to the board. But in this case we go throughan MLS listing type of sale. And this is for the boardto authorize that process. - Yeah, I would stand by whatI was suggesting, which is, you know, I would be comfortable with the full board approving this as opposed to just asubsection of the board. 'Cause I think it's importantwhen you're talking about sale and purchase of real property. - [Scott] Okay. Thank you. Any other discussion? Ms. Beloyed? - How many propertiesdid we sell or buy along the Bald Eagle?- How many properties did we purchase? - Like. - [Tim] 27. - 27. So this is one of that 27. And we've been using the same realtor? - [Tim] Yes. - For all of it. - [Tim] Mm-hmm. - Obviously we must trust therealtor if we keep using them. Have we had any issues? - [Tim] No, we actually get very favorable agreement with the realtor,Coldwell Banker Burnett. - Do we have any kind of, I mean I know we get these resolutions each time the houses are sold. Have we run into any situationswhere we've had to go, that where we had to pay what you would consideran exorbitant amount for any of those houses? - For the purchase price of those houses? No, I think we purchasedat fair market value. - Are you going to determinethe fair market value or is the realtor gonna determine, how are you gonna come to that conclusion? - We'll work with the realtor based on what they believe the value, what they can sell the housefor, knowing the market. - So what would be the red line for you for the fair market value? 20, you're not 5% belowwhat your expectation was. 10% below, 8%? Is there a number thatyou guys have in mind for what you wouldn't sell it for? - Well, I think we would, we would not take a loss on the house. - [Deborah] Okay. - Right, you know, we'vehad conversation with them of what they believe theycan sell the house for, and it would be, youknow, a positive amount, a positive balance for us. - [Deborah] Well, 'cause we'verented this house out for. - [Tim] Couple years. - Couple years, and we've madeimprovements to the house. And so was it like 20, $30,000 worth of improvements to the house? So we have to recoupthat in the sale price, so that figures into your bottom line? - [Clerk] Yep. Correct. - [Tim] Okay. - All right. Thank you. - [Scott] Right, right, right. Other questions? Ms. Thompson? - You noted the statestatute in the policy, so I'd imagine you have it inthere because you reviewed it and made sure you'refollowing the law in Minnesota to be able to do this? - [Tim] Right. - Correct.- Right. - Thank you. - Like I said, we've workedclosely with our bond attorney, Peter Martin, to make surethat we were following all laws about selling. - [Angela] Thank you. - [Scott] Other questions?Just one moment. I want to give somebody else.I will come back to you. I promise I'll come back to you. - [Daniel] No, that's okay. - [Scott] But if somebody elsewanted to have a question, I wanted to give theman opportunity first. Any others? Okay, sorry,Mr. Skaar, go ahead. - I think what memberBeloyed as a suggestion to put some borders on this,guardrails on the sale, which is you just set a guardrail, which is we would never sell it at a loss, which would mean the purchase price plus improvements, right? So could we put that in the resolution that we would not sell it at a loss, which would be the original purchase price plus the improvements thatwe made to the property? (members chattering) - [Tim] I. - [Member] Oh, if he's done. - [Scott] So you, are youasking to make an amendment? - Yes. - Okay, the amendment is to, can you be very clear so we have it? - The property cannot be sold at a loss. And a loss means the sale price less our original purchase price plus. - Price plus improvement? - [Daniel] Yeah. I can writedown a formula, but yeah. Plus the improvements. - Is there a second for that? - [Deborah] Second. - Ms. Beloyed has asecond. Any discussion? Okay, can you write down for the clerk so we know exactly thisamendment we're making? - Yes. - So should we have it here, So if you write itdown, I'll pass it down. We'll give it to the clerk. - Chair. - Yes. - I think to move this along, it's purchase price plusimprovements period. That's the language thatneeds to be in there. - [Scott] So we recommended the resolution to allow the district to sell the property located at 4871 Bald Eagle Avenue as outlined in the resolution. And where do you want purchaseprice plus improvements? - I'll have to go backthrough it and see where. Cannot be sold for a loss, purchase price plusimprovements need to be met. - [Clerk] Could we add itinto number four, Mr. Wald? - [Tim] Yeah. Three or four,on top of page three, maybe. - [Clerk] Can that simplybe part of the action and not located withinthe actual resolution? - I think we'd be comfortable if it was in the resolution,not just the action. - Okay. We'll have to have our attorney. - Yeah, I was gonna say youhave to take it back to Graven. - So at this time we cannot add that without the attorney looking at it. - Yeah. I don't think. - [Tim] It's probably better to. - [Clerk] No, him. - [Tim] He wrote the resolution.I would hate to change it. Yeah, we can bring it back next Monday. - Okay. So can we just back this out? Heather, are we okayto remove the amendment and then remove the motion andwait till the June meeting? - I'll table this to the June meeting. - You can't table it to. - The 18th. - 18th. - They said next month. - Well, do you wanna bringit to the 18th meeting? Okay. - Yeah, that'd be fine. - I think when we table it, we have to table it for that meeting. So what we have to dois we have to take the, if you made the amendment. If you agree to remove the item amendment and then who made theoriginal motion to accept? - Look in here. - It was Deb. - Deb did? - Yep. Yep. - So first of off, do you agree to pull youramendment for right now? - Sure. - And then Deb, do you agree to pull, so then we're making no action on this. We're gonna pull it, we'llbring it back on the 18th. - Okay. - With that change ifwe can. Okay, thank you. It'll be next Monday. Okay, we're gonna go tooperational item three. Action on the boardpolicies 201, 202, 203, 214, 215, 415, and 712 asusual we take these in a group. Can I get a motion toapprove the policies? - So moved.- So moved. - [Scott] So, okay, Ms.Beloyed, second by Ms. Thompson. - [Angela] Thompson. - Discussion? Hearing none, this will be a voice vote. All in favor say aye. - [All] Aye. - Opposed, same sign. The motion carries. All right, we're gonna bring up our action on school board policy 203.6. Just give me a minute to getdown here in this packet. It's way down to the bottom. Here it is. It's so in front of us rightnow we have a recommendation to approve school board policy 203.6, the consent agenda as recommended by the school board policycommittee and cabinet. Would somebody like tomake a recommendation, then we can talk aboutwhat the changes are. - [Angela] So moved. - [Scott] Okay, Ms. Thompson. Second. - [Christina] Second. - Second by Streiff Oji. Discussion? Do you want to talk Ms. Streiff Oji? - Yes, so contrary to media reports and those feeding the media reports, requiring a majority vote to pull items from the consent agenda does not silence individual board members. And it does not prohibitindividual board members from speaking on itemson the consent agenda. After a motion to approve theconsent agenda is seconded, board members are alwaysfree to discuss items on the consent agenda. Additionally, all school board decisions are meant to reflect the will of the board as evidenced by a majority vote and not the will of a single board member. With that said, I supportrescinding the motion to require a majority vote to pull items from the consent agenda. Although the media's coveragefailed to tell the full story, I do not want to take any action that can be manipulated toundermine the public trust. I voted in favor of the original motion because the consent agenda ismeant to promote efficiency. Additionally, board memberswho prepare for the meeting and review concerns in advancewith the administration, which is the practiceof most board members, generally should not need to pull items from the consent agenda. While I believe these areall still valid reasons for requiring a majority vote to pull an item from the consent agenda, I'm voting in favor ofthe motion to rescind this because maintaining thetrust of the community is more important than the considerations that led me to vote infavor of this motion. So I'm fully committedto strong governance and that means listeningto, reflecting on, and making adjustments when needed. - Other discussion? Yes, Mr. Skaar? - Well, I just would say thank you for correcting this judgment error, and getting back on track to what I would call good governance. At least it's a stepin the right direction. And hopefully we can do morethings to add to transparency and listen to the public, public forums such as streaming the publicforum and things like that. Thank you.- Thank you. I just wanna say that forthis I have the expectation if you're gonna want to pull something that you're gonna reachout, that any board member's gonna reach out to thesuperintendent, whoever says that, because there's a loton that consent agenda. So if you have somethingvery specific, let us know so that we can have thatinformation ready for you at the meeting. Because it is expectation you reach out. And truly, if it's aboutgetting that information, I don't know why you wouldn't reach out to the superintendent and say, "We have questions on this and this" so that we can speakto that at the meeting rather than, I don't wantto just spring something on because with everything on there, they may not be able toanswer that at that time. So that's one of the expectationsis what you're gonna pull. If you can let the superintendentknow, if you let me know, we can have things ready and available for us to make sure wehave answers for you to help the meeting move more smoothly. - [Kathleen] I'd like to comment. - Yes. Ms. Daniels. - Just thinking about the things that have been pulled off theconsent agenda in the past, we have around 45 pages of invoices, and on those pages thereare about 35 invoices at least on each page. So it's about 3,000 per meeting. And that seemed to be where a lot of those questions came from. And it's difficult for any person to have all those memorized. So what Scott said, or Chair Arcand said is it's best we have specific questions about specific invoices to let the financedepartment know in advance so they're prepared toanswer them either by phone, which is what I do when I have questions. I try to get them answeredbefore the meeting, and I just would appreciate it if that's what other membersdid on our school board. So we didn't try to surprise everybody and say, "Wow, gee, what'sthis for and what's that for?" And then expect them to have it memorized. So that's my comment. - Yes, Ms. Thompson. - On this subject, I just think, one thing I've been thinkingabout a little bit more is maybe perhaps, and this is something that maybe we could discusswith Dr. K. when he returns, I was gonna reach out to him, but possibly giving us a little more time to have the packet then so we can ensure those questionsget asked ahead of time. Even if we got it on Thursday,it gives us one more day to have the ability to contactand ask those questions, and just ensure that whenwe come here on Monday, we're ready to get started and have a very efficient meeting. - [Scott] Mr. Skaar. - Anything on the agenda is fair game to ask a question during a public meeting, and I would just say Ihave made suggestions on how to simplify theconsent agenda, streamline it, and those have been gone on deaf ears. - [Member] Mm-hmm. - [Scott] Thank you. Ms. Streiff Oji. - So the recommendationsor suggestions you've made have not been the will of the board, and you say anything is fair game. It's like you're tryingto manufacture things and trying to catch people off guard. If you have a question, ask the question so that we can find the answers and they're available to you in detail. So rather than trying tocatch people off guard. - May I respond? I'm not trying to catch anybody off guard. We have a lot of questionsregarding spending, and I ask questions regarding spending and unusual invoices that I see. And I would say if we have questions onthe invoice register, those questions that anybody, any board member reaches out to staff, that the report on those questions should come back into the public session so that the public knows what questions board members are asking on the invoice register. - And I don't have a problem with you having thatdiscussion brought forward. All I'm asking is you let them know so they can at least prepareto answer the question. That way we get a clear answer because there could be times when they don't have it in front of them. So I'm asking to givethem time to prepare, and even if it was aMonday, you send it off and we can make sure wehave the answers you want or anybody wants. And so that's what I wasasking. Ah, Ms. Thompson. - We could streamline the packet to be similar to the 916school board's packet, which just tells us howmuch their invoices were and how much their, what revenue came in andwhat revenue went out. And it's just a dollar line. We don't actually getthe pages of invoices. I mean I think if we had a reason to question the invoiceson a regular basis, there would be a need for that. And there has yet to be proofthat there is any reason to be continually askingthese same questions. - [Scott] Yep. Okay, Ms. Beloyed? - I would say that in aneffort for transparency, any question that I askof the superintendent or the superintendent through the cabinet, I also ask in open session. So that's how you make sure that you get your question answered. And sometimes I've asked questions that after I've asked them, figured out, I reallydidn't need to question it in open session 'cause it was a non-issue. So that's been the practice. Getting the information first, then asking the question in open session so that everyone can getthe answer that you got. - [Scott] Yes, Mr. Skaar? - I would just say, youknow, maybe what we could do, just as a suggestion, instead of picking onthis particular matter, maybe elevate the discussion and talk about the orderof the board meetings for the public meetings versusthe working session meetings and how they're structured, and have a discussionabout that as a board. - [Scott] Okay. Right, okay. So right now we're lookingat the approval of the. - I understand. - Okay? - Thank you. - Ms. Streiff Oji. - When I just made the statement that people are trying to cast out or catch people off guard, when I hear statementslike unusual spending, I would like specifics around that because we're throwing stuffout there to the public to cast doubt, what arewe talking about here? Like what are youspecifically referring to when we make commentsabout unusual spending? Because these are people's careers, these are people's reputations, and we are paying thesefolks to do their jobs. So I wanna make sure if we'regonna be making comments, it's very irresponsible to make statements like unusual spending. If there's unusual spending,I would like to know about it. - [Daniel] I think I. - Go ahead Scott. - [Scott] Maybe writesome in, Ms. Thompson, - I'm just gonna remind again the school board haslaws we have to follow. One of those is that we'renot allowed to have a meeting unless it is an openmeeting to the public. If we are to have a meeting, even if it's an emergency meeting, we have to give announcement to the public that we are having that meeting so the public can come to the meeting. There are very few timesthat we are allowed to meet without the public present. And those are closed sessions that usually involve ustalking about negotiations with contracts for staffworkers that are working here. Every meeting is a public meeting, whether there is publicforum at that meeting or not. And our work study sessions, for all those who come to public forum is a great opportunity tolearn what we are doing in all the questions that are being asked. That's where we get to the work, that's where we ask all the questions. And that's a great opportunity to come, listen to the work that's being done, and then take that knowledge you gain at our work study session, come back to the next monthly meeting, which is the one following that. And then you have the opportunity to speak at the public forum regarding what we justdiscussed at that past meeting. All of our meetings are openpublic meetings, all of them, no matter whether there's public forum at that particular meeting or not. - So can I just bring us back to, what's the motion on thetable is to accept the changes to the consent agenda. We're starting to get a little off track, so I want to really make sure we're coming back to the consent agenda with the expectation isthat any board member then can request to pullsomething for discussion, but I also would askif possible to let us, you can let me know, youcan let Dr. Kazmierczak know so we can have people look into it. So you ask it here, but you know, they can have the answers rather than have to say, "Idon't have that right now. I'll have to look it up,"because they may not have it. And so what I'm suggesting isif you can ask ahead of time, still ask your question, wecan still have the discussion, but that gives them a chance to get the information you want. Mr. Skaar. - So there's a couple things hanging out that I need to address. One was the items that I'vecalled out I couldn't find, I looked on the internet to find them, and that's why I asked the question. The other question that Istill haven't had an answer on is we have a lot of Amazon invoices. I'd like to understandwhat controls we have over spending on Amazon. The other thing is, is. - [Scott] So are you speakingin favor of this motion or against it? - No, I'm. - [Scott] I'm not following here. - I'm speaking in favor, but I wanted to make a couple of things. I've asked legitimatequestions that are interests, that are in the interests of the public. - [Member] Point of order. - Yes.- Thank you. - [Scott] We're speak. - [Kathleen] We're getting off topic. - [Scott] We getting off topic. So we're gonna go backto the motion at hand. - Well, others can getoff topic, but I can't? - [Member] Point of order. - Okay. So we have the, we have the consent, we have the consent agendapolicy in front of us. I hear what you're saying Mr. Skaar, that you feel like you'renot getting questions that you want, but so will you. I'm just gonna ask you, are you okay with allowing a board memberto pull it from the agenda? And would you be okaywith asking me questions that I can forward on to seeif we can get your answers? Are you okay with movingforward doing that? - [Daniel] Do I send these directly to? - You can send them to me,if you're not comfortable, you can send them to Dr. Kazmierczak. That's who our employee is. - Can we get the agendasinstead of coming on Fridays? Get it on a Wednesday? - We will ask and see what we can. That's a question I can't answer. I'm gonna have to meetwith Dr. Kazmierczak and let you know. But right now in front of us,we have to accept the changes. Any other discussion? Hearing none. This will be a voice votethen. All in favor say aye. - [All] Aye. - Opposed, same sign. Motion carried. Okay, so we are now onto E6. I don't know if we haveany further information about the minutes. - [Clerk] I sent an email. - Thank you. Okay, so what we wanna do is, I need to find a way thatwe can move this till next. - [Daniel] Sure. - Next Monday. We wanna look at the video and recognize how it was processed. Is everybody? - Chair Arcand?- Yeah. - [Clerk] There's a follow-up email. I did review the video. - Oh. - [Clerk] And during the meeting, while Mr. Skaar was speaking, Member Ellison made a pointof order, which is allowed to be made while a differentboard member is speaking. The chair is allowed to decideif that's a valid motion. Would like me to? - Yes.- Yes. - [Clerk] And then therewas more back and forth. She called the question, you acknowledged, you called for a vote. It doesn't seem like any one board member was more out of order than any other board member at that point. - Okay. - [Daniel] Oh, Chair Arcand,can you recognize me for that? - Yes. - Discussion stopped, and I was interrupted whenit was called into question, that was out of order. - [Clerk] So sir, when you were speaking she made a point of order,which is allowed to be used. - That's not in the minutes. It's not in the minutes.- During another board member speaking. - I'm sorry, but that'snot in the minutes. What's in the minutesis called into question and then it immediately came to a vote. - [Member] Can we back up. - I'm thinking what we should do here? We have the minutes infront of us. I'm going to. - [Kathleen] Go back up. - What's that? What do you wanna do? - [Kathleen] Nothing. I'mjust talking to myself, so, going back up to the top. - So what we have in frontof us, we have the minutes, we don't see an interruption. We got a second. We had no amendment, yes. - [Angela] I move to. - Okay, go ahead. - Move to approve theminutes as written in the. - [Scott] Okay, do we havea, do we have a second? - [Deborah] Second. - [Scott] Second. Any further discussion? - [Daniel] Yeah, 'cause this. - [Scott] Yeah, go ahead sir. - I would just say, youknow what, in general, maybe in general weshould just adopt a policy where you let board membersspeak without interruption. How about that? - [Scott] Well, we're trying. - Thank you. - Trying to follow Robert'sRules, so any other? - [Daniel] And RobertRules recognizes that. - [Deborah] But just not off topic. Not constantly off topic. - Ah, ma'am. - [Deborah] Okay. - We have in front of us a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Any further discussion? Because this comes off the consent agenda, I'm just gonna ask for a voice vote, a roll call vote, excuse me. I'm gonna ask you to call the roll. - [Kathleen] Okay, I'll have to go back upto my other document, then open, sorry. - [Deborah] Chair Arcand? - Yes. - Clarification.- Yes. - [Deborah] We are voting on the? - [Clerk] The not to accept the minutes. - We accept minutes as they are written. - [Deborah] Thank you. - [Kathleen] Ready? - Yes. - Daniels, aye. Streiff Oji. - [Christina] Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - Skaar?- No. - Okay. Motion carries, five one. (gavel bangs) All right, we've now reachedour public forum for, I mean, excuse me, our board forum. This is an opportunity for board members to update the school board and the public about any work they'redoing on the community work in which they have engaged, in the official capacity as a board member and create awareness of upcoming district and partnership events. Is there any board memberthat would like to share? Yes. Ms. Streiff Oji. - I just wanna commend thefolks that were participating, and the students and the staff that ran "Matilda" at the middle school. So I attended that a couple weeks ago and it was spectacular. So thank you to those that took time to really help our kids do an amazing job in that performance. If anyone had a chance tosee it, it was excellent. - Great, others? Yes, Ms. Thompson. - I had the great pleasureof attending our AIPAC, which is our American IndianParent Advisory Committee's first annual powwow for oursenior students that graduated. It was a way that thestudents had come together when they were asked how they wanted tocelebrate their graduation, and the students decided that they wanted to host their own powwow. And it was a wonderful event. The weather turned out to be great, and I think for our first year, it was a good turnout and I'm looking forward tobringing it back next year. And then also I sit on the916 independent school board, and they had the great honorof graduating seven EASs. So those are educationalassistance specialists, they have a pathway toget their SPED licensing as teachers, as educators. And they do that basicallyin an internship program that's very similar to the trades and many of the tradespathways that they use where there's an apprentice, that the worker will follow along as they're learningthe trade or the skill. And that's the same waythat they've done this for our special education teachers. We have a shortage in the state for SPED teachers and educators. And so this is a greatway for many of our EASs to follow that pathwayand do it while working, while still earning a wage, because you know, theydon't make a lot of money and they have bills to pay. So it was very exciting to see. This is their second cohort, and they graduated all seven of them, and they're looking forwardto bringing it back next year. And they've got some great ideas of some additions to add to it. And I believe they're thefirst district in the state to implement this program. So it's pretty exciting stuff. - Thank you. I just want to comment, 'cause Friday I also had the opportunity to attend the powwowand student recognition of our four Indigenousstudents who are graduating. Here's what I took away from it, is it wasn't always like a normal powwow. There was a lot more narrative,because when you walk in, and you're not culturally,you don't have that culture, you don't understand, theydescribed what was happening so you could clearly understand. It really made you feel welcomed and part, and they encourage you to participate. So that was the greatest part, that I could go thereand feel comfortable, and if I wanted to participate I could. And it was just fun tomeet the four graduates and shake their handand congratulate them, and just to see all thewonderful drumming and dancing, and have them talk aboutwhat they were doing, what they were singing, youknow, who are they supporting. It really was an opportunity to learn and feel part of it andunderstand what was going on. So I would recommend next year to go back. I would go back againbecause it was so enjoyable. So thank you. It was a great job for a short term time to put that all together,that was awesome. Other things? - [Kathleen] Go ahead, Dan. - Mr. Skaar. - Well, I was just gonnasay that, you know, I think it's importantfor the public to know that a lot of the work that the board does is through committee meetingsor cabinets is what they call, and none of those meetings aresubject to open meeting laws. We just see the results ofthose meetings and vote on it. So I think, you know, maybe that's clever but it's not transparent. And I would reallyrecommend that we go back to where committees are subjectto open meeting laws. - And just for a correction, all our committees arenot deciding committees. They don't decide anything. Anything that's talkedabout is brought back here in a motion. So they cannot make, there's no decision abilityby those committee meetings. They can't approve anything. And so everything comes here, and very little if anythingis decided in those meetings because it has to come here. Ms. Thompson. - And just on a point of transparency, and this is getting us off what board forum is supposed to be for, but if we're gonna talkabout transparency, then I would suggest thata certain board member disclose what they did inan email chain recently. - Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there, because I don't want personal, sorry, I don't want to becomean attack on people. I apologize, but I don't wannago any further with that. Board forum. - I have something to report. - [Scott] Yes, go ahead. - I went to the recorderconcert at Lincoln fourth grade and yes, they're stillplaying "Hot Cross Buns." (all laughing) So and "Row, row, row your boat." So just on a brighter note, try to get out and see some of the wonderful things that are happening in ourschools in the spring, because there's so many things happening, graduations and all kinds of programs. So that's all I wanted to say. - All right, anything else? All right, thank you. Now we are now at the adjournment process. Can I get a motion to adjourn? - [Angela] Chair, can I motion to adjourn? - Thompson, a second? - [Deborah] Second. - Second by Ms. Beloyed. - [Deborah] No, no. - Oh, Ms. Sorry, Ms. Daniels. - [Kathleen] It's all right. - You're so close. I couldn't hear that. - [Kathleen] I know. - All right, all in favor say aye. - [All] Aye. - All opposed, same sign.Motion, we are all adjourned. Thank you.- Thank you.