It is 6:30. I now call this regular meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening, fellow school board members, district staff, and community members. Uh, as always, a reminder to us all, the mission of St. Francis area schools is to equip all students with the knowledge and skills to empower them to achieve their dreams and full potential while becoming responsible citizens in a dynamic world. We are currently involved in an active litigation and as a result will not be providing comments on the status of our policies or any potential next steps at this time. The only update I can share is that our attorneys have been in communication with the attorneys representing the plaintiffs and the settlement communications have occurred. We appreciate your understanding as we allow the legal process to take its course. Our first item for tonight's agenda is agenda item number two, adoption of agenda. Are there any questions prior to a motion being made on the agenda before you? Question. Is there a call to motion for the May 12th 2025 meeting agenda Sanderson. Thank you. Is there a second? Second, Mr. Shrock. Thank you. Any discussion on that motion? Seeing no discussion, signify. Uh all in favor of the motion, signify by saying I and raising your hand. I I motion passes. Thank you. Agenda item three, consideration of visitors. We have nine uh individuals requesting to speak tonight. We'll allow two minutes uh per speaker. Again, I ask speakers uh once you your time is reached, once you hear the alarm, uh please make your final statements quickly to respect everyone's time. There'll be no board action taken on consideration of visitors. As always, the superintendent or myself may respond to any comments uh if appropriate. Our first speaker for tonight is Nikki Cruz Dy. Good evening members of the board. Thank you for letting me speak again. Um, I've recently taken upon myself to read many of the books that have ban been banned under policy 6065. I can say without hesitation that the claims being made about these books don't match the reality of what's in them. What I've read are thoughtful, moving stories written by diverse, talented authors filled with messages that help students make sense of the world around them. These are not harmful books. They're important ones. Yes, I've seen a few swear words, but nothing more extreme than what our kids hear in their daily lives. even from some of the very people who support these bands. One neighbor of mine, for instance, curses very loudly and very angrily at his own children. So loud that I can hear it working in my own yard all summer long. Yet argues these books are inappropriate because they expose children to bad ideas. We listen meeting after meeting to supporters of this policy talking about clean blood and reclaiming the rainbow and all other kinds of prejudice all with undertones of hate and the desire to disenfranchise students and community members who don't align with their own personal beliefs. That is not America, friends. That's not who we are. That's not language or ideas. And it's not the language in these books that are harmful. What's actually harmful is denying our students access to literature that reflects real experiences, encourages empathy, and teaches difficult lessons from the safety of their favorite reading spot. These books were selected by educators and librarians for a reason. They're good. That's how those books got into our library. They challenge students who think critically and build understanding. That's what education is supposed to do. Some say these books are trash, but I believe one person's trash can be can be treasure to another. And in this case, these books are treasure to many. Please trust our educators, trust our students, and let's give them the freedom to read. Thank you, Nikki. Our next speaker is June Anderson. June. Thank you once again. Um, I really don't know why I'm here and I don't know why any of us are here. The matter of hand is that our school district is spending hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars on lawyers fees to litigate what should be a non-issue. The book ben placed on the St. Francis school district by the board of education is in violation of district policy and state statute. You are breaking the law. As a resident of this district for 53 years, I have paid taxes for you to hire professional educators to teach my children, my grandchildren, and now my great grandchildren. And what do you do? You allow a person of no standing in the community, professional or otherwise, to waltz in here with a batch of 48 book titles he got off the website of a disreputable organization in Florida, claiming they are all dirty books and demanding that they be banned. Did he actually read any of them for content he is required? I think not. What was his motive? You ignore the fact that the books on this list, including a Nobel Prize winner, have been curated by professional librarians and educators and selected for their educational value. You fire all but one of the school librarians due to budget cuts, but are able to find the money to hire lawyers to litigate this illegal book ban. You override the remaining district librarian's attempt to review these books with other professional staff as required by state statute and arbitrarily removed them. So one more three seconds. So who reviewed them and made that recommendation? I heard it was the person demanding their removal and some of his like-minded friends. The professionals charged with educating our children obviously had no say in the matter. Book banners are attempting to silence the voices of certain communities in order to effectively tell them they don't have the right to tell their stories or perhaps not even exist. Let's not fool ourselves. Let's identify this nationwide book batting movement and name it for what it actually is and what it is not. It is not a noble effort to protect our kids. It's a blatant attempt to nullify all that is good in humans by eliminating the values that we as Americans have striven for all these years. Inclusion for everyone. June. Thank you. I'll be done in a second. That that's a minute over June. Okay. Well, my question to you is June, your time is up. Who is going to determine what we teach our children? Professional educators are sorry, but your time is up. Thank you. Walks in off the street. Thank you so [Applause] much. Our next speaker is Laura Magnus. Laura Good evening members of the board and community. Thank you for once again allowing me to be here to speak with you. As Nate Mr. Bur said, my name is Laura Magnus and I'm here to once again ask the board to resend policy 606.5 and please follow Minnesota State Statute 134.51. In 2023, our district tried to pass a referendum. A referendum to be in operating and capital projects left. It failed. Our students had larger class sizes. Pro less programs were offered and technology was not updated. Now we are spending money on legal fees against lawsuits that were recommended to you to not do. You chose to violate Minnesota State Statute 134.51, placing our district in potential financial irresponsibility. I have lived here for 25 years. I have paid taxes for 25 years. I have two children who graduated from this school district. They had wonderful educators who tr I trusted to provide materials that would give them the best opportunities as they move forward. The mission unfortunately tonight is hiding behind this screen, but I will remind you all of what it says. The goal of Independent School District 15 is to equip all students with the knowledge and skills to empower them to achieve their dreams and full potential while becoming responsible citizens in a dynamic world. When we ban books in our school libraries, this is a violation of the first amendment. It restricts and limits information for our students to explore diverse topics, perspectives, cultures, and ideas. Books of all types provide information students need to become critical thinkers and to expand their knowledge of other people and cultures viewpoints. Now I know based on that mission that we want critical thinking students who value all people and are wellprepared to explore all topics. Please resend policy 606.5 and stop this censorship. Let parents be parents. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Laura. Next is Chris B. Show. Just brought a little prop with me. No big deal here. All right. Well, Chris again here to talk about the book ribbing policy and I'll keep showing up, keep talking until we get an update, a resolution here. Last week, I shared why representation of books matter to me. This week, I want to share why pronoun pronouns matter and how they're being used to weaponize the fight to ban books. So, I hear all the time that they them back in my day were only used as a plural statement and I would call belonging to that. This is the complete work of Shakespeare. This is copyright in 1878. So it's kind of in an old book. However, we know that Shakespeare's plays were being performed in 1592. So hundreds of years before this was actually even printed. For lifetimes, pronouns such as the, thy, thyself, yours, sheath, heth, theyth, themth, thou, thine have been used, including they and them in a singular sense. So if you think that they and them being used in a singular sense is a new thing, that is an issue. That is not an issue. Me, you just didn't learn that piece. Now, it's hard for people to kind of understand the pronoun usage and why are we talking about it? Because really, you only get growth when you're a little uncomfortable. And the reality is, pronouns have been used to ban books such as Gender Queer, All Boys Aren't Blue, The Bluest Eyes, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, stating that the pronoun usage leads to gender identity exploration, and that is somehow in conjunction with Ruby. I would push back against that and say that good pronoun usage is just good English. We need representation. We need representation in our schools, in our communities, and in our books. If you leave a book in a classroom, in a library, one day maybe a kid has an uncomfortable moment and they have to lose a night having a conversation with their parents. If that another kid goes to that library, in that school, and that book is not there, you might lose the kid. So, that choice is yours and I hope that you can make it sensible, inclusive books. Thank you. Thank you, Chris. Next is Richard Clavic. [Music] I'm Richard Clavic from Oak Grove, Minnesota. Disagreements aren't just permissible permissible within our community. They're valuable. They reflect the genuine complexity of the issues at stake and the intellectual diversity that make us strong. We're committed to protecting individuals who face repercussions for challenging orthodox views on identity related related issues. Our advocacy focuses specifically on ensuring that discussions about race, identity, and related topics remain open to diverse perspectives. Our our advocacy for individuals expressing viewpoints that challenge prevailing identity based orthodoxies remain true in the context of free speech. What's striking about the current discourse is that the voices from all across the political spectrum are raising legitimate concerns about the importance of maintaining environments where all students can learn and express themselves freely. This would include the discussion here about limiting access to some books. It is not a book ban. The books are available other places. They're limited in the school district only. So that's not a ban. Thank you to our community members who disagree about the proper balance between free speech and protections and other important values. Offer this perspective. Disagreements aren't just permissible with our community. They're valuable. They reflect the genuine complexity of the issues at stake and intellectual diversity makes us strong. Our shared commitment to the values. We should be tolerant and listen carefully to pers perspectives different from your own. You should maintain a pro-human focus and you look should look for common ground. Dr. Martin Luther King famously warned that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. As we navigate this challenging mutant landscape, let us carry in our hearts a willingness to hold those we support and those we oppose to the same standards. These value we hold dear cannot constantly endure if we choose to adhere to electively. Thank you. pass, please. Thank you. Thank you, Richard. Next is Tyler Johnson. Hello again. It's me, Tyler, local homeowner and concerned citizen. do want to open uh by thanking me for allowing me to be today. Um okay. So between the last two few meetings um I've grown more aware of the fact that some of the origins of the school district's recent book policy are rooted in and connected to the agenda of a wider outside or group or groups. Um, groups like this see our schoolboard, our classrooms, our teachers, um, and our community as a resource to exploit, consume, and degrade. Um, in a wider strategy to remove facts, information, and voices that they might find politically inconvenient. A cursory Google search reveals that the group Moms for Liberty is a political organization based out of Melbourne, Florida. I don't see how they have any business playing political games with our school board, draining resources from our classroom, disparaging our teachers, and dividing our community. I lost my place. Ironically, it's groups like Moms for Liberty that accuse poets, award-winning authors, and scholars of indoctrinating others, all while trying to manipulate, control, and restrict our communities. If you pay close enough attention, you see that every accusation from groups like this is actually a confession. Conversely, most teachers are famously overworked, underpaid, under celebrated, all while shouldering the responsibility of carrying out some of the most impactful some of the most impactful and sacred work for our community. And the local heroes of our classrooms are no exception. It's your own teachers sacrificing their evenings coming down here to defend the educational rights of your children. Our teachers, sorry, one sentence left. Our teachers are an essential part of our of the foundation of our community and it's our turn to show them that we support that. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Tyler. Next is Katherine. [Music] Good evening, everyone. I'm Katherine Breick and I've been a resident of Cedar East Bethville for almost 15 years. And both of my children started in this district. My oldest is a senior. He's graduating this year. And he started at the preschool, right, in Oakrove. So that's how long I've been here paying taxes for my kids to earn education within the district. With that said, I do trust the teachers here because I have the option to open enroll or put in a private school, but I chose not to. I trust the teachers here to pick what they believe is appropriate for them to foster their learning. And if we are going to take away that option from the teachers to be able to decide or to help with books that are appropriate for my children and that of other kids within the district, what do we think about these teachers? I mean, if you don't trust them to pick things for your children, then what are you thinking about them? I would rather us focus so much on a lot of things within the community within the school district that's playing the children instead of spending so much money on lawyer on legal fees and other things defending this book whatever restriction of B and I call it B it is not worth it. we have to focus our attention on other things that are affecting the kids in the district. And so as a parent, even though I have one graduating, I still I have a step in this community and I've had family that have graduated here without a band and one of which is actually has a PhD in political science from UV and he graduated from here. So that's the education he got from the teachers within this district and I trust them to make those decisions. Thank you. Thank you, Catherine. Next is Sarah Ro. Good evening. Tonight, I'd like to address the current book policy at ISD15. My name is Sarah Rafi. I'm a Christian, a mom to a preschooler here at the elementary school in St. Francis where I went to school as a child. I graduated in 2014 from the high school. I was on the speech team, participated in theater, and I'm currently taking courses to become a history teacher. I see a lot of myself and the students who have spoken out against this policy, but I never had the guts to oppose the school board the way they have. Now, I originally intended to share some personal experiences from middle and high school and why I oppose this book policy, but instead I'll share a personal experience from a few, excuse me, from a few weeks ago while my son and I were in community garden. The community garden is located at the Methodist church right across the street from the elementary. Around 3:00 when children were at play and my child and I were in the garden, a group of young boys, teenagers in a pickup truck drove by and screamed racial absidities at the school children and me and my child. You see, while some students are using their freedom to stand up for their rights and the rights of others, others are using theirs to scream racial slurs at school children and community members. This is what happens when we encourage ignorance instead of intellect. Most of the books being banned teach compassion and this policy is teaching casual cruelty. Now, as I said, I'm working to become a history teacher. And here in St. Francis, history is being made. Are you a school board member me members going to remain on the right or wrong side of history? Thank you. Thank you, Sarah Ro. Uh, next and final is Brian Bombgard. All right. Um, I'll start off by noting that I am a parent of two high schoolers in the district. I've spent a lot of time thinking about community lately. I've been thinking about how we find connection with one another. I've been thinking about how we mature and grow. This has led me to some profound disappointments and I don't like feeling this way. The book ban policy is the antithesis of effective community. No matter the intention of individual schoolboard members, the end result of this policy and other similar approaches across the country would be a reduction in learning, a reduction in real thinking, an eraser of valuable parts of our community. Part of this is because the organizations that spawn book looks and their guilt are spurred by fear and hatred. They target the most vulnerable people, people they often don't understand, people that make them uncomfortable. They target queer folks and black folks and indigenous folks and Asian folks and disabled folks and neurodeiverse folks. These groups will tell their followers to use loaded terminology. A current favorite is calling anything with sexual themes pornography that attempts to disguise their intent. I've shared before that book bans are not the way to go and I stand by that. I do not approve of mass removals of books from school. I am in favor of books that challenge us, including our children, the students in our schools. I am in favor of books that make them think, that get them to see the world from a different viewpoint. Books that show them that they are not alone. That the world is a complex place and folks similar to them or different from them have complicated lives. And yes, books that make them uncomfortable. But I want us to come together in community. So we as community as parents and teachers and guardians and the adults who are helping guide these young people, we should read those books too. We should read books that make us uncomfortable. We should read books from and about people we don't get to understand. We should see what these books have to offer. And when we read, the fear of the unknown is stripped away. And we come back to love and we come back to community. This is how we mature and grow. This is how we find connection with one another. Thank you. Thank you, Brian. And thank you to all of those that spoke tonight. We appreciate the engagement from our community. All right. The next uh item on our agenda is consent agenda. There are currently eight items in the meeting's consent agenda tonight. It will be a roll call vote. Are there any questions or request to remove an item from the consent agenda prior to a motion being made? Seeing none, is there a call to motion to approve the consent agenda for tonight? Mr. Shrock, thank you. Is there a second? Miss Anderson, thank you. Any discussion on the motion to approve the consent agenda, Mr. Shrock? So, in 4.2, if you go through it, my name is in there that I resigned from assistant coach at the as a girls assistant coach. With the new coach being hired, it's customary to just have all assistants resign and then when a new coach is hired, we reapply. So, I will be reapplying, but that's why it comes in resignation as it Thank you, Mr. Shrock. Any questions, Mr. Any other comments? All right, roll call vote. Uh, first, if you're in favor of the motion, signify by saying I. If you're opposed, signify by saying nay. Mr. Working. Hi, Miss Anderson. I, Miss West, I, Mr. Shrock, I, Mr. Humphrey. Hi, Miss Hansen. And Mr. I. Motion passes. Thank you. All right, as we move forward on into agenda item five, information reports. Again, a reminder to all board members, please leave your questions or comments to the end of the report or update as much as possible. And uh we do have those three tonight. Any no student council tonight? Correct. Correct. No student council tonight. So, we'll be moving on to uh 5.2 career and college planning. An update is going to be provided on the progress and development of our career pathway readiness program. We have a stellar team here tonight to provide that update and uh any projected asks for our future advancement of this program. Team just ask that you introduce yourself so everyone in public knows who you are and uh the floor is yours. Yeah. Hi guys. Eric Campbell, school counselor at the high school. Joe Le, engineering tech middle school, Austin, high school principal, and we're here to talk about the career pathways. Um, we are each kind of an individual representative of pieces of the Nick that team have been leading. So, we're going to kind of split this up that way as an update from what's happening with the Nick, what we're going to grow with, and then what we need support on to move forward with career and college pathways in our district. So, In the interest of time, I'll take this pretty quick here. I just wanted to recap what we did this year. We viewed the pathways and kind of went through the graphics that we moved forward with as a committee. And there's the presentation I assisted with this fall. Um, we can just continue forward. And so then there was a breakdown to hopefully unite the pathways to a nomenclature that would tie things together a little bit better. All right. Yeah. So, um, part of the pieces that we really pushed on this year were internships at the high school. So, um, we're trying to make a more meaningful opportunity for students to have something on their transcript that that will reflect a leadership opportunity they took on within our building. So, we had several departments step up to help us create those. Here we go. Um, so each of the departments has to create a job that they choose to do. For example, our PE department created one that was equipment manager. That's a big job making sure all the pieces get checked back in and the room stays organized. They have an application process the students have to go through. They have an interview process depending on how many students look for it and then they hire somebody. Then they come to us as counselors. We update it on their schedule and if they're successful with it, it goes on their transcript as if they completed this job. So it shows to future colleges and employers that they were able to do something above and beyond a regular teaching assistant position in our district or in our building. Um some of the other pieces that we did were um taking futures prep which is our 9inth and 12th grade kind of future planning class and making sure it's lining with the pathways that we have put forward and then working with MCIS which is a state sponsored program that helps with college and career development and digging into kind of that why. What do I want to do? Why do I want to do it? Is it a good fit for me as a human? Um and bringing that into the middle school as well. So they've been able to do sixth, seventh, and eighth grade presentations with MCIS and get them starting if they do. And then the eighth grade team has been taking them to an operian tech and doing some things helping them start being mindful of what's ahead of them. So to move forward, some of the direction we want to see for our 30 hours of professional development this year is to integrate careers in the classroom. So specifically putting on some professional development for teachers to be able to find students that they're currently teaching and apply a career or college pathway that ties into the content that they're teaching so students can better recognize the the direction that an interest level in that unit can be provided for them. Um we're also going to put forward a career conference at the middle school this year. uh something to try to bring community members who want to share their employment with students as well as bring in a multitude of different opportunities to hopefully inspire students to see other careers than the typical that are typically talked about. Um, ideally, I don't want to talk too much about this, but ideally we'd have like a seminar where students can go see four sessions um that they sign up for of possibly 18 to 20 people coming and sharing all their diverse employment opportunities and then as well to allocate a little bit of time for the time that it takes to keep the college tours going and the meetings that go along in place. All right. And then the I think this is the rain. Um our uh high school side of the counseling team as part of this nick is taking on the pathways that we have worked hard to create over the last three, four, and five years um and actually putting them into Infinite Campus so students can basically register for their pathway. So, if we know a student is interested in um going to be a welder and when they're done with high school, they can choose a welding or manufacturing pathway and it would help them choose electives that are meaningful for that once they leave high school. Um, if we have someone who wants to go into pre-law, it would help them make sure they're taking, you know, AP L, AP laying, some of those more challenging classes. So then it's very movable if it's something we're going to help them create um as kind of just a way to make sure that there's no gaps in that because not everyone knows all the opportunities we have at the high school. So if it just pops up for them and they're like I didn't know we had metal arts or something like that because it populated for them based on what they're interested in. So that's what we are taking on as kind of the high school counselors to continue to grow the nick over these next couple of years. Um what we currently have in place is something we're really proud of. Our science manufacturing program at the high school, our teched program at the middle school as well. Um the theater program, performing arts. We have a lot of opportunities for students to start diving into potential opportunities to spark interest when they leave high school. That's what we hope for, right? Is that they leave with some inkling. It doesn't have to be a plan the second they turn 18 and leave our doors, but just some idea. So, we give them that gift of a a um meaningful thought when they're walking out our building. Um onampus internships is a big part of that, but we try to hit a lot of areas. We do need some support to grow this though. I you know, this is a key part when we talk about well, let's say we're talking about a welder and things like that. We have a lot of programs that get to where they need to be, but it's getting that career experience. And if we can do more and more of that, and I think the key thing is getting that career pathways coordinator that we saw at Hutchinson, we also saw at Big Lake, they have those things in place, getting more of that, and that would be through CT. So, there'll be additional funding funding for that. And I think that's going to be really that next step. We are really trying to figure out how to get medical careers back. It was something uh that probably went away about five or six years ago, but that's crucial. we see a huge need in that area. So these are kind of those next steps that we want to see happen. Some of this would be you know medical careers would be of course we talk to do internships and use a work in order to do that career path position. I know we're time constraint so always make sure we follow a few questions for us. Are there any questions from any other board members? was how interchangeable are these um the the avenues that they can choose? Like if they go into saints manufacturing and that they decide they want to be the welder and they go back and sign up for all the classes and like oh I don't want to do that. I mean can they how readily can they switch to a different concept or goal or something and still have some of those classes? I mean are they interchangeable? Yeah, they're very interchangeable. um it each trimester if they want to meet with their counselor and have a meaningful conversation about what they want to change and why. Um it's just making sure they're being thoughtful with it. But absolutely we're not asking those 14-year-olds to make sure they know exactly what they want to do when they're 18 19. Um so it's very changeable. um the farther they get along with it, the harder it is to kind of get all of the pieces. But the beauty is our 11th and 12th graders have a pretty substantial amount of electives. And so we're trying to give them meaningful electives instead of just saying, "Well, I'll take whatever fits in my schedule." So if they're being more planful with it, hopefully by 11th and 12th grade, they're taking things that are sparking more interest, but it's very changeable. Hopefully they're using MCIS to help guide them. And so if they have an interest level in that area, then they're, oh, I really don't care for welding now that I've taken one class. I can move on and try to move in a different direction. And I think it's really important that they also figure out what they don't want to do, right? You know, instead of spending a lot of money, we all know how much education costs and we definitely want to promote trades and try to make sure that we're getting more and more students that opportunity to do that. That can be challenging at the high school level, but we're making some success in that area. So big thing is just to make sure that that's what they want to pursue. Any other questions or comments? Mr. Question for you. What's the difference between a career pathways coordinator and a work program coordinator? Good question. Um, we call career pathways is probably coordinating that whole piece of it. But I would say initially where I think we'd start is probably with that core coordinator. So we get some of these things that we've already advanced. But the current pathway what I think was really effective is what we saw in Hutchinson where they were actually making those connections with comm community members and things like that. And I think that's the big part of it. Um you can use the terminology early on but eventually you want to see that go and there might be you know some work coordinators underneath that but it's getting that vision of where it's going and having that time focus on that. Some schools will split it. Some have one person and that's a person. It's making those contacts not only here in this area but also moving out so we can find needs for other kids if you can't find Detroit. Yeah, I think a big distinguishing piece of that is work-based learning is its own license through the state in order to credit award for a high school student. They need to carry that license. Um it's a three course program, but it is above and beyond a standard teaching license. Um and there's not many of them out there. So, it is encouraging somebody with that license to be a part of our team or someone in our team to get that license. Um, because the districts that can incorporate that into what's happening in their brickandmortar buildings, then students leave and go and do those things. It shows amazing growth in what they can learn on the job. Sorry, making a note for the super. Okay. Uh I do have a couple questions. Uh Joe, first off, uh who leads the professional development topics um that you suggested like who is who's taking the lead on that topic to our to our staff? I will I put those opportunities out after discussing with with our kind of our core administrative group and I I wrapped them up to our from that from that core group to anybody who would want to sign up for those courses for the professional development. Perfect. Uh, and then the career conference you talked about, what grade? What grades are you looking to? This is a middle school level event instead of a career fair. Six, seven, and eight or you just because the other ones focus on eight. Are you focusing on all three or what? It's It depends on how many volunteers we can get. Since this will be like the first year, I would hope that we can at least include all the eighth graders moving in and thinking about it. But obviously I think it would be wonderful for all grades of the school be able to do and my ideas kind of or the the concept of it all is 20inut sessions so they get a little bit more deep dive into what's actually involved in that. Yeah. Perfect. Thank you. Uh Erica and that asked a great question and that was one of mine as well which is the movement through the pathways because we all know how you know interests change. uh how do we communicate these pathways with our parents? Yeah. So, we are looking at doing that through a lot of our eighth grade registration so that they're getting a feel for it right away. Um that this is what's out there. Does it mean you're locked in? No. And then the second part of it will come from their futures prep class that they take in nth grade. So where they will have a few weeks or longer to sit and learn from our teachers within the building what these pathways will look like and then have an opportunity to schedule appointments with us as counselors to kind of dig into it more. And then those futures prep teachers are sending more information out to the parents as well. This is what we're working on. This is the projects they're getting involved in to start looking at their pathways. Um when we first launch it, we're not anticipating every student in the building to have a chosen pathway. We would love to start with those ninth graders, just a handful even like who is interested in, you know, maybe you've got a kiddo that's known since they were very tiny. They know exactly what they want to do. We've met those kids that you can just tell and that kid knows they're going to take every single class in our engineer tech department or our art department. All right, let's get it on your schedule now and then we'll work through it the next three years. But we anticipate that being a team thing from our counselors and our teachers. Perfect. And when we have the January open house for incoming ninth graders for the next year, we do have them go to all the spots in the building. So they get exposed to it. So they get to see things manufacturing, they get to see the drama department, they get to see those components, they get to see DECA, they get to see the things that we already have in place and so that's a big part of it to get that level and once again keep you know we always got to our own students on attending their school. So that's also important for us. Okay. And then my last one Doug for you is the Saints pathway. Um what is your plan for assessment of those offerings? You know, do do we have a a set plan yet of assessing each one of those pathways and hey, we offered this course, you know, metal art and we didn't have much interest, but we had more interest from students. Do we have a plan on that or I I think that's probably the biggest thing that we need. That's kind of a hurdle. I wouldn't say hurdle, but we're still having to assess where we're at. Um, you know, obviously we need to like in any area that we're trying to grow, we need to see students in those levels. That's why I bring up the medical careers if we can try to do that. It's a little complicated because you got to get the right person to teach it also. But that's what we need to continue to assess and the one thing we got to figure out is what what what's our capacity? you know, how many things can we offer? I think it I will say the internships have been a good way to kind of respond to some of that of some things we don't have in place now, but down the road we do need to assess and figure out which pathways if there's some things that we need to enhance and some that we might need to look a little bit differently if it's not going as well. We do that for registration as well. Doug touched on that a little bit, but like we'll open up courses for registration that maybe we haven't offered in many years and if students still aren't interested in it, we don't offer it. Um, but like coaching and officiating is an example of that. Our PE team has the curriculum, was prepared to teach it, but if three kids want it, we can't offer it. But we still put it in registration every year. Let's see who's interested. And if we had 15 20 kids interested, we'd offer it. So, we try to gauge the student um interest through registration in January or year two. Thank you. And so, I think we've been working on this for two years. How do you feel about your progress? And do you feel like you've hit any brick walls and do you think you can I mean what are your goals? I would say the area that we are kind of the one I'm the one I'm struggling with most is a medical careers piece to try to get that in place. Okay. Um I think that's one we need to look at. It's going to take a little bit of time. We have to work through some things. I'm working with human resources to try to figure out how we can maybe move forward with that. So that's kind of a concern I have. It's also then once again evaluating you know what you know have to make balance we have to make choices as far as what will happen. So those are all things that will continue to assess as we move forward and then I think the next step is also engaging community more but I mean part of it is getting these things up to where they're at. I think what I want to see is that internship be able to enhance to go to some places that we can't offer. Like I said, we're probably not going to be off our welding class, but if they have those skill sets of developing within our tech program, eventually they could do like an internship and then we can do a work program for that. That's where we hope to get to. I think that's a nice space. I think getting that work coordinator is a hurdle we need to get over as well. We have some amazing small businesses in this community and we would love to have our sta our students be their staff and we just need to figure out a person to be able to give them credit and recognize them for what they're doing and have it be a part of their day. Um but I do want to say I think the last two years just being a part of this Nick I want to speak on Dr. Joe this has been his baby for many more years. I think we've seen some really strong forward motion that is finally putting it more public which I think feels really good. Love it. I'm an electrician and I there's a huge need for this. Also, whenever I talked to my uh apprentichip school, they said like, you know, don't have to necessarily reinvent the wheel. They'd be open to the field trips. they'd be open to coming in and speaking and stuff like this. Do you ever see the day where like PSO would be some sort of apprenticeship in this trades or could they then go to like to become an electrician there's a couple years of trade school and then you do an apprenticeship for four or five years which you can then take and test your uh journeyman a master's license. So is that a PSO like with a trade school possibly? I don't know if anyone's doing that these days. They started credit which is a place where maybe doesn't get you right to the level you're talking about it get you kind of foot in the door. So at an tech or any tech school in the state off of that. So those are some free credits they can utilize. So and you know also getting more and more things that we need to figure out getting some of that stuff and making that a little bit but I know Mr. control does that where they give those certificates and those can be used at the tech schools. I think I've been hearing your question. You're asking for like the apprentichip like the actual apprenticeship on boots on the ground with the unions. Um I think that's more of an MD question to be honest because I think there's some funding pieces that they have to be recognized as a school for us to be able to put it as PSO. So I think that's a hurdle for that a little bit but it would be an amazing opportunity for the right students. For sure. Sure. One only another issue that you may run into is an age requirement for some of these job sites. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I I was that's what I was asking about the actual apprentichip, but the schooling part before the apprentichip sounds like it's just the same thing as the tech and whatever. So, back in my day, we would take foreign language. There was German and French and Spanish. And you kind of took a semester of this and a semester of that or quarter, whatever we were back then. And then from that, you kind of realized, okay, I like Spanish. going to Spanish like this would be probably a pretty cool to meet in the trades and across the board. I mean plumbers, everyone auto every it's I mean it would seem to me that would be a kind of a natural way to put it generally teach. I mean I think you guys are filling a need that is not out there currently. There's a big void between I think people end up pushing being pushed into the trades just because they they feel they haven't looked into anything else. And I think it's such a viable lifestyle that I think um I'm pretty excited about you guys bringing this up. Sorry. Um we do have and we know a lot of people get jobs but not having like really yes you can talk you trouble examples I don't want to oversell it but it's a pretty strong set because there's just such a need part of this film and they have the skill set a lot of these things come out of too without any educational debt. because your school and your training has been paid for and you're making like really really big money and really good benefits. So, and there's a huge need. So, yeah. And I think that need is mirrored in the medical side. Um, so not to continue to hit that over the head, but to have students be able to leave with a CNA or something would be just to be able to have that opportunity and again that saves them that 18 months of college and that would be fantastic. Miss West, just to address your your comment earlier, I think one of the goals that I would see moving forward with the Nick is to be able to offer some a potential class like a technical writing course that would tie students back into understanding what they're reading when they're reading through electrician's manual or um going through the science of of biology as it would look like in the form of an auto shop. Why we have to filter our anifreeze? Why do we these things hit the ground and pollute our water? So if we could get to that point, you know, that could be really exciting for our students that it makes a more relevant connection to their pathway that they might like to pursue and make learning biology more important to them. And she has a question there, but I also we just started our program back up and we increased it by two more sections. So it's starting to move in that direction. So that's a good thing. Sorry about that. Okay. So historically for medical did you just provide the DNA training or what else are you hoping to achieve in that? I wasn't at the high school at that point but it was they could take courses through there for four years and their capstone kind of senior year if they went through all of the certifications through the courses they could end with that level. Um, but yeah, it was there were kids that would just take a few classes and kind of just get a taste for it. And there were kids that again knew since they were little, they wanted to work with humans in a medical fashion and would take it right from freshman year and be able to leave with some significant skills. And I would say that was probably one of the areas where they were the best at RT credits and going to the schools. So at least maybe that they don't get through the whole program within that time frame, they they were able to go to the school and have some things paid off and help them out in that process and help that start. I wonder if there's an option during the summer to partner with an extended care facility and have them do it in three months. I don't know when it is today. I I we have a lot of we have a lot of students that are doing that on their own. There's also option and you get to so many hours. I say this. Yeah. Any other questions or comments? So, I have one thing. If you're all done, um, you guys are all welcome to graduation. It's May 30th. You will get an email from me tomorrow. It was typed up that I had to make sure I got it officially by then. So, it is at 7 o'clock. Please let me know if you're able to attend or not so I can get you a seat and you'll get information on that tomorrow. So, just wanted to give you a heads up on that. Perfect. Thank you. Hey, uh I think I'm a speaking for the board. Thank you for your enthusiasm uh with this program and the detail that you guys are able to provide us. We do appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Uh next agenda item, administrative reports. Superintendent has a few items. Yeah, this will be quick. DECA had four students who attended the international career development conference and I know they enjoyed themselves a lot. You can read through the information in our report. Military signing day is Friday, May 16th at 7 a.m. open to the public. I know we have over 10 kids, I believe, who signed up to serve in the military. So, we're pleased to honor them. And as uh Doug Austin mentioned, the high school graduation is May 30th at 7 p.m. The day before May 29th, there's a graduation ceremony for Saints Academy. A lot of Saints online as well. That starts at 6 p.m. But there's an open house that starts half an hour earlier. So hopefully we'll see you on one of those nights. And for new schoolboard members, if you are want to participate in that, they do a meeting with us prior to to let us know expectations for each of those events you're aware on the day of. Yeah, Mr. Sh. Yeah, at the center I think they want you to sign up and let them know that you will be if you haven't done so. Any questions or comments for Mr. Anderson? All right. See you now. All right. Moving forward to action items. Uh we have uh two items for tonight's meeting. Again, we'll stay with the standard practice of initial comments. If you have something else, everyone else will be able to speak first and then summarize or provide your additional comments at that time. Uh first agenda item 7.1 policies 413, 512, 516, and 504. Uh we're looking for approval of those. uh the first reading has already happened. There were no changes um and that supporting document on what was changed uh is in there. There was no changes to suggested after that time. We will need a motion to approve those policies. Are there any questions prior to a motion being made? Yes, you said 54. I just want to make sure I got any other questions or comments. All right. Uh, is there a call to a motion for the approval of policies 413, 512, 516, and 704? So, thank you, Miss Anderson. Is there a second? Miss Hansen. Thank you. Any discussion on the motion? All right. All in favor of the motion signify by raising your hand and saying, "I." I. Motion passes. Thank [Music] you. Uh, next agenda item is approval of capital related budgets for next year. This approval is for operating capital, long-term facility maintenance, which includes health and safety, deferred maintenance, and construction. Uh DD is here to provide more detailed overview uh for us prior to the approval. The floor is yours. Okay. Thank you very much. Um Vanessa is putting the summary page up on the screen for the audience to view. Thank you. Appreciate it. Um, so each year the school district must comply with putting in a capital related budget and that includes operating capital. It includes construction and long-term facility maintenance. So what you have in front of you in the document that's up on the screen right now is just a summary of the pages that came after that. So I'd like to spend a little time looking at this document. So the first column is then the category. The next column is the audited actual fiscal year 24 fund balances. And then the next two columns are related to the revenue and the expense estimated for 2425 our current school year. And then the estimated 2025 fund balance. Then likewise for 26 we have revenue and expense and then the estimated fund balance at the end. Okay. So, first line is operating capital. And operating capital is funding that the district receives. It's um about $231 per pupil unit that we receive. Uh for that funding, um not a lot, but a little over a million dollar um on an annual basis that we receive. You'll see that ending 2024, we did have a fund balance to that was carried over and so 3.2 2 million. Um we did have plans for um 24 25 school year of expending about 18 million to get us to the 2.55 million in 25 f year 25. Then looking at the future year about even on the revenue and the expense and getting that fund balance to just under $2.4 million. Now when we go through the list of operating capital, I want to tell you that we are using some of our assigned fund balances. So those are funds that are set aside for a specific purpose. So we have funds set aside for curriculum instruction about $600,000. Transportation same amount. And then assigned technology about 1.6 million. Then when you go to the next column on uh that assigned technology, you'll see $1.2 million. We did set aside that as a plan for the upcoming 2526 school year knowing that we would have larger technology needs based on the fact that most of our computers and um equipment in that technology area were purchased during COVID when we desperately needed them. and now that they're they're past getting past their life cycle. So if you go across um on those three lines on the assigned fund balance, you'll see that in 26 we will be spending down some of those and in particular curriculum instruction will use $440,000 of that 600,000 be just under $160,000 remaining. transportation. We will use all of that. And you'll see on the next document that it's related to school buses. And then the assigned technology, you'll see we will be spending 1.062 million leaving 1.7, which again will be important as we get into those future years where we have some additional plans to purchase technology. And we move to the next slide, long-term facility maintenance. uh we had a negative balance and that just has to do with timing of projects. You can carry a negative balance but then you carry it and fix it up in the following year year. So you'll see that revenue is a little higher and we spent less in expenses to get that to a zero which is fine. Um next year uh revenue expected to be about 974 with 632,000 in expenses leaving a little bit of a carryover. It's a good place to be in case something happens that we can't quite control, right? So, we'll have a little bit of money to work with should a boiler fail or something else that we need for district. And then our construction bonds that we've had um that will be expended by the end of the school year, which is good. Those are funds that were brought in for construction, spent down, and and we'll be at a zero fund balance. The way those funds get in there is either through a bond referenda or alternative facility bonds that can be issued by the district. So bonds are sold and the money goes into an construction account. So you can see at the bottom there then we have the fund the balances. So in 2024 7.146 million. I'm going to jump over to 25 drop it down a little bit to 6.55 and then further drop it down to 4.63. 63. Um, as a school district, I feel you're sitting in a really good spot to fund the items that you need. Um, in the future, we'll have to be discussing more on buses. We will need funds to make sure that we can address busing and technology will be the two big areas for the district. Um, that's why I kind of like the idea that we've got about 2 almost $4 million remaining in that operating capital that will help with those future purchases. Um, the LTFM, long-term facility maintenance, the school board, you did approve a 10-year plan, which is revenue and the expense. We do that on an annual basis. You'll have that opportunity again in July to do that 10-year plan where you're looking out into the future of what your needs are. It's not super specific. It's kind of in categories. You have an opportunity to refine that as you go forward. Um, and the um, long-term facility maintenance, in case you're wondering how that is calculated, is based on our pupil units, and it's based on our average building age, which is 43.72. Means you've been in business for a while and you have some older school dis school buildings. And then there's a formula allowance of $380 within all of that calculation. It's a little more complicated. the district did issue some facility bonds and those bond repayments are coming out of the overall general revenue that you receive that for that but it does come out of fund seven hope I'm not confusing too much which is your debt service which tracks all of that so um you're in a good position it'll be 2032 before those bonds are paid off and then you'll be getting about 1.35 million for your deferred maintenance and health and safety and that would be a good spot to be and we do have some equipment here that's that's aging a little bit. So, I'm not going to pull it up on the screen, but if you go to your next page, you have a list of all of what I call our normal operating capital, things we use in our facilities on a day-to-day basis and their equipment. You'll see the curriculum information at the beginning. Um, uh, Stacy has provided information on social studies and math. You get into technology, you see the items listed there. I won't go through all of them. Uh related to um tech, a lot of Chromebooks, iPads, teachers, MacBooks, all the um items that they need to continue with the educational process. Then you'll see some uh building renovations, total of 420,000. Then you see those transportation amounts in there for somebody with five new uh buses. And then at the bottom just um a buildout uh for freezer. So food service can pay for some equipment. They can pay for the freezer but they can't necessarily pay for any modifications to the building itself. So if we have to build out the wall, the district needs to pay that. Um we will be allocating some funds this year to each of the buildings to buy small equipment. It's not a lot of money, but some set aside for them to be able to buy. Let's say at the high school, if a refrigerator goes out for a classroom, we can buy that. And then um contingency, I'm always a fan of putting a little bit of money aside to make sure we have some fun. So about $3.3 million um proposed for next year, a little higher than normal, but we do have the supporting funds to cover that. Then the next two pages relate to deferred maintenance. Um and these are very typical to what we um had been doing in the current year. So the plan pretty much stays the same year to year. Uh the first page is deferred maintenance. The second page is health and safety. Um there's a couple things I want to point out in here that might be um something you're interested in understanding. If you go down about twothirds on the way, you'll see professional services and salaries. I did want to point out that a portion of our buildings and grounds administrative staff is covered under health and safety. So, it's not a bonus. It's not anything else. It just means it takes it out of the general fund and it is covered under this specific funding. And that's because they maintain and look at all those uh projects within that. Then on the next page, I want to apologize for a typing error. Uh when you get about the third way down, environmental health and safety maintenance, um we had a specific person who retired that is that person's replacement um person. So some of the health and safety uh should be listed as Chuck Hener and not the previous director. So just a typing error on it. So was a lot said and um just welcome uh any questions you might have. If you're also wondering why we bring this forward now, usually it'll be next year it'll be February or March. And the purpose of that is so that we have ample time if there's projects that we can go out for bid and get those projects started when June comes around. So thank you Mr. Sher page. budget of 600,000 for transportation. Mhm. On page two, transportation comes out at 1 million. Yep. What's the So, the remaining portion comes out of that first line operating capital. Okay. So, we only had 600,000 to cover part of it, right? And the remaining came out of that operating. All right. Yeah, that's a good question. Any other questions or comments? All right. One quick thing I might say when we come back the end of June with the final budget, if there's any possible revisions to this, we will add that in. I know the one that is a question might be the telephone system. That might change. The amount might change slightly. We'd make that recommendation and point that out to you at that time. Perfect. All right. We'll need a motion to approve the capital related budget as presented and recommended by administration. Are there any questions prior to a motion being made? Is there a called motion for approval of capital related budgets as presented? There a second. Second. Okay, Mr. Working. Any discussion on that motion? Seeing none, all in favor of the motion signify by raising your hand and saying I. I. Motion prevails. Thank you. this way. Thank you, De. Thank you. All right. Next agenda item is agenda item seven, upcoming meetings dockets. Are there any topics? Are there any questions or comments about upcoming meetings? the next meeting. We got school calendar there. What I try to do with this upcoming list is to show the items that are going to be recurring every year. So, it might be might be better to just leave it on there even though we know together that it's not going to happen this spring, but a year from now, two years from now, that timing. And then I also want to point out that this calendar was really based a lot on last year's model for schoolboard meetings where we had workshops the first meeting of the month and then regular meetings the second month. And so, Mr. and I will meet and kind of review that to determine, you know, when things are going to get approved because that might change. So, I'm sure it's been a little confusing here because sometimes we're talking about discussing something for people. That's the reason we'll clean up. Mr. Sure. So I guess just a reminder to the people in the audience that next meeting will be on Tuesday, not on Monday due to the holiday. Correct. May 27th. 27th. May 27th. Any other questions or comments? Um uh we do we have added a special meeting on May 15th at 6:30 uh to conduct a closed session as permitted by the attorney client privilege to discuss matters uh pertaining to litigation regarding library materials. So that is on there and then the following regular meeting is that May 27th a Tuesday and I just wanted to say thank you to board members for reaching out with potential uh agenda items and topics. really helpful to give some detail and then allows us to to work those into the schedule. So, thank you for doing that. Uh I do have just go through the list because I said I would every time. Upcoming work session topics uh include superintendent goal setting. That'll be tonight. Student assessment data, district improvement, policy 506, student discipline, substitute teachers, district strategic plan, technology plan, nutrition plan. Uh we got uh a little more into the career readiness, but we're still going to have some discussion on that as a team. Uh and that is it for right now. Um I have a few more that I'll be adding just to get some further information on. So next agenda item is schoolboard member reports. Miss Anson, Mr. Humphrey, I'd just like to reflect on something that happened greatly. We're announced at the softball game last week. Uh uh girls softball. There's many games during the week and they usually start going to about seven. I highly recommend it. But it was teacher appreciation day. So it was really cool how each of the uh participants in the game um got to bring out their favorite teacher, which we all see a lot. And it's it's there's a lot of love there and a lot of respect. a lot of uh people being uh uh excited about where they're going in their life because of these teachers. And then I was actually sitting right next to uh Miss Murray and Miss uh Styles and they're both in science and they're both talking about how they're helping teachers how they're teaching teachers better ways to get through to their kids and they were talking about increasing MCA scores and things like this. So, it's kind of a neat thing to hear uh you know, the inside dope on that. And then uh one more thing is uh Mr. Frederickson was grilling up pizzas um completely out of his own cost and out of his own time um at the softball game for sales and all the money went to support I think the tennis team. So, just a lot of time and effort being put on around here by our employees outside of their uh uh normal day jobs. and I just really appreciate that as a parent in this district. Thank you, Mr. Sha. Nothing to report. Thank you, Mr. Sh. Mr. Work. Um, yeah, I just want to call out a couple of events that I went to. Um, I attended the East Beck Elementary School uh choir concerts, grand choir concert that Miss Milo put on. Um, saw a few of you there. Um, the combination of singing, speaking publicly, uh, the costume she had going on, duog choreography was amazing. I've probably been to a dozen of those elementary school concerts over the years, and Miss Meyer is doing an awesome job with that particular group of students. Have a good time. Had a lot of kids meet, community involvement, and uh, overall just absolutely positive experience. Uh, that was last Tuesday. And then this last Thursday, I participated in chatoning with my sixth grade crew, um hung out with a lot of teachers, mostly Miss Sevens, uh the middle school science teacher, and Mr. Gearing, the middle school um social studies teacher, one of them. We took a field trip to the capital. So, we spent about roughly an hour at the capital, got a tour, got to see some speakers, see part of the capital. Um and then we left there and went and spent a few hours at the historic site of Fort Sing. Learned a lot of history, got some presentations. Um awesome experience. Great to see what those guys are doing for those events as well. So just want to call that out and uh say I appreciate it. So that's it for me. Thank you. Sanderson attended negotiations today for custodians. Um was the first negotiation session. Next one is in the middle of June. That's all. Miss West attended the ACT committee meeting um this afternoon. Um we discussed uh how the year went. We reviewed the review of the year we called it. Um what topics do we want to explore in 2526? Um they asked for feedback and part of the feedback was more parent involvement. Um so for our parents who want to be involved in um the ACT committee, we talk about education curriculum. Um moving forward, uh we meet on a Monday before the schoolboard meetings from 5:00 to about 6:15. Um, again, we're looking for some more parent involvement on those committees and even a few students because according to the state of Minnesota, we should have some students or at least a student on that uh committee as well. So, if you have any questions, you can reach out to Sam Samantha Holland or um Stacy Pikert about the schedule and what the conversations are at that meeting, but we're looking for some more outside participation. Thank you. Uh that was the only meeting I had as well. I was not able to attend tonight. So, thank you for that update. I have two uh areas to talk. Um we will be presenting a list of who's assigned to negotiations uh here shortly. We're working through a couple uh issues before we did that and we'll have that out uh like we talked about earlier. And then uh same thing, I wanted to just uh say something about our wonderful staff here in the district. We had a student incident outside of school hours off off of school property where an individual got hurt on the side of the road. Went into the hardware store to get some help and one of our teachers saw pulled in and stepped up and helped contacted the family, made sure mom was there uh in time and just controlled the whole situation. One of our high school teachers for middle school students, but just saw a need and stepped up and and to Mr. at Humphrey's Point. I think that's happening all over our district, which is awesome to see. Uh than that, that's all I've got. Our next item is adjournment. We'll need a motion to adjourn this meeting. Mr. Working. Thank you. Is there a second? Anderson. Thank you. Any discussion? Motion. All right. Hearing none. All in favor of the motion to adjourn the meeting signify by saying I and raising your hand. I I motion prevails. Thank you. We are adjourned at 7:46. We will take a fiveminut break before we go into our session.