like to call the central school board meeting to order with on February 24th 20125 to look for replacement for a two-year term or twoyear remaining term for school board we were to conduct the interviews and we will start with candidate El l so please come on FR thank you everybody my first CH so if you could you just set that to you just twist it and it turns red minutes there we go okay thank you well I will start with the first question why do you want to serve on the Central Public School Board of Education I feel there's a need for an independent person such as caror Smith was that does an affiliation with the students and so forth also start bring the um expertise in being on the school board for 27 years and just feeling a 22-month position only I am not planning to run for reelection I can hit the ground running I don't have to take any type of training class or anything and I think I bring my ability to work with the school board and I've worked with most three of you two of you I have not Troy and Spencer I not worked with but I know them and so that's why I chose to um be on and I've been asked by several people to build the term including Mr Smith has reached out to me and asked me to uh if I could fill his term and I'm more than willing to do that for 22 months thank you sure said we'll probably be jotting stuff down so apologize we got our heads down no that's fine I've done interviews before but not interviews I've been the interviewer so little different story on this side all right what are the biggest challenges facing Central Public Schools and how would you work with the board Administration to address them some of the big challenges are and seeing all the um enrollments we are down by 100 students at the present moment and we need to somewh formulate a formula to bring students to Central uh what are student why are students leaving our school district is an important question we need to ask um is it because of the word opportunities I have like a wakia or I know we get a lot of school kids from Plato So that can't be the case nor like but are they going to Bonia because of more educational abilities or more classes being offered and then why are they going to clone academy let's pick on clone academy what does clone academy offer that Central's not offering at the moment uh so we need to look at all those things the next thing we have to look is our budget um is our budget coordinating with um our enrollment are we kind of not offering as much or ability for students because their budget is pinched when you lose 100 students that's approximately $400,000 that you are losing and how do we address the budget and maybe revisiting the budget sometime in March or April which is typical and seeing what cuts we can make that not harmful the educational process of the school district so we need to look at all that those things too so it's not a one easy step that's all and then maybe doing some more interviewing with students and why the students are not going or why the parents are sending them and I'm going to use my neighbor as an example they go to wakia and the reason for that is they both live in the Twin Cities or work in the Twin Cities not live work in the Twin Cities and they just take their kids to school in the morning and pick them up in the evening which is convenient for them but why don't they just send Cent we bus going by so those are some of the questions you as a board and if I am allowed to adjoin your board again are those question we need to address to see once what is the reason for our students not staying at Central and are we losing students not because of wakona or other school districts but because the students are not here we have not built that many housing units in these last five years as we should have or could have but now with Highway 212 opening up we as a school board or school and also as a community of Northern America hord clone we need to also set uh this is a good place to stop and raise your children build your home here so we have to kind of coordinate with the city and the school district in order to get people to stop build a home here and know this is a community we should live in thrive in and send your students to so that is a big it's a multiple thing one size doesn't fit all one things don't cure all the answers but we as a board or you as a board need to look at those as potentials what are we doing and how are we communicating with the city and the townships as far as that goes and what's happening out there I don't have the perfect answer but I have a lot of suggestions and and willing to work with all of you to get that done I don't mean to ignore the two of you but they're asking the questions at the moment you got tough questions I assume okay that's all I have with that thank you all right thank you pleas describe your experience with governance including working with a board or leadership team setting okay if you look at my um bio that I I sent I have been involved in many organizations I'm going to point three of them out I think cover pretty well my philosophy and how I shape what I have done the person course Focus it's a fellowship of continuing understanding and support that was back in the 1980s really before some these woke came out and all this other stuff came out and understand that we're all individuals we have individual needs individual wants individual desires and belonging to the Church of Christ not mentioning churches in here but um we were probably the for runners and accepting more people and their beliefs and their different opportunities and different choices that are in the world nowadays where you should never condemn a person because they don't follow your beliefs to your followings and so often we do that U because they don't believe where Sarah believes in and so then we kind of shunn them and one of the students that came up to me um was a student here left our school because we being bullied I have met with that student not with special meetings but just ran bur into that student by accident and the third time we ran into each other was down to mano and the individual waited outside the school room door that I was in scho classroom I was in just to say hi to me and talk to me I got OPP to see how that student was doing and that person is going to be graduating this year from another school unfortunately it was because of bullying during that particular period of time the other thing I influenced me quite a bit and that been more with Community relationships and School Board of course do is the Landon Foundation which I became a member of still a member of but attended onee course on Community Development understanding people and the relationship and what you can do for a community so often we do not allow ourselves to open ourselves up and be part of the community and that doesn't mean being a paid position or working in the community but also volunteering for things in the community uh that is a big thing I believe very strongly in um you don't need to be paid for everything you should always get out volunt here if you look at the organization I belong to uh play baseball 20 years St vest since 1997 senior advisory commission getting out there in voluntar they not paid positions but they're paid or they're paid in just rewards of being out there and understanding what the community is talking about and so often people have come up to me and since I ever senior citizen you may not ask that question but I can volunteer it um I hear a lot the community members coming up to me in the different things and on Friday I spent five hours on my feet which on Saturday I regretted volunteering for the Plato fire department they need volunteer so I went there and volunteered in that opportunity I could listen to people and send their kids to Central and also Norther America people run over to Fish Fry so you've got to get out in the community and not just thinking hey School Board is my only job I'm going to have and I didn't like what Mr shakam said we got a playoff game so that means I've got to work until 8:00 because we got to watch the Fieldhouse and do stuff like that so it's an opportunity to volunteer not to get paid but just to help out in school and then the third one I think is so important and that you had to be handpicked for again was people of people I don't know if most of you ever heard of that organization it was started by white all to in 1957 and as a culture exchange not only for students but also professionals that are in a particular field and I was an agricultural so we went to visit China and Soviet Union and learn different cultures visit some of their schools but also and desires am I supposed to be quiet just thought I was gone excuse me but that made me aware of not just the United States but also the world and the students in schools and what's happening there so there's are three things and you can see from all the other activities I've been involved in and the awards I was awarded during my career so far doing my volunteerism and so forth and I will continue to do that because I think that is so very important not only as a Schoolboard member but also just as a good Community member to get out and do all those things thank you Mr krer how do you believe the district can best prepare students for success in evolving world and what rool should the board play in the process that is a very typical question kind of answer because that answer could be six different answers actually eight different answers if have two people behind hanging what you always hope as a board member to give them best education possibly can to nurture them to talk with them and be available to students you can't advise them or counsel them but when one basketball game had a young student in eighth grade sit down next to me and he was toying between becoming a wrestler or basketball player I got to be very careful with Troy but I we sat down and talked for quite a bit during the game and he just sat down because he knew who I was and I said what would you like to do the best I see you playing basketball a lot and wrestling you didn't you have not been in the program so being a board member and having students willing to come up and talk to you was a great think and also that Central teachers Consultants coaches also help train students and selecting what they want to do after they graduate and not only saying well you got to go on to college no sometimes maybe going on to work going on to votch school or technical school or whatever you choose to do so but always remember that education does not stop when you get that first diploma I have gone back to school for a lot of different classes a lot of different times and Contin education is always has to be a part of it and I have done two online classes just this last year so at my age you think online class why you're doing that in order to keep all the license that I do hold for a moment I need to take online classes also so education process I hope that Central prepares a student well in all these years but what can we do for student in school here not only as teachers or as administrators but as school Bo members that you open your doors up and talk to other students as well and attend different school events so the kids know who you are versus I think that person I don't mean part show I'm sorry but Mr shm better that they know that you're open and talk to them and just kind of advise them on what what's going on last one and I think that comes back to one of my other questions in the focus group which is always um fellowship and continuing understanding and support people don't necessarily always have to agree with you that is not a normal thing people don't have to say Well since em said that I have to agree with that you should always express your own opinion in a very polite meaningful way and then have open discussion and maybe you don't get the way you felt or wanted them to answer the question or be on your side but at least use that word and when I I always use this s especially in politics nowadays you compromise you get the best deal you possibly can on the situation listening to every board member it's very important knowing what they're saying and how they feel about a particular issue or concern and why they feel that way that issue may not be agreeable to you but when you leave a board meeting you leave the board meeting as seven United people you express yourself in one voice you don't go out and say well that Conor Smith and what he said I use him because board anymore but you can't do that you have to agree after you're done with the board you vote on it and the vote is 43 and you were the minority but you still have to support the idea in order to keep our school and our school district continuing on at all times you can't go out and mean Mount the rest of the board members think I don't know what they're thinking they just don't seem to understand that situation at all that's not what you want to do as a board member or as a community member you want to get out there and expect everybody's opinion listen to their opinions then form them to informed decision that hopes works out the best and maybe in two months you might come back to the decision and say no that really wasn't the best decision was was it and maybe you got to go back to the board and say maybe we've got to tweak a little bit say maybe that was not the best way to go and all the communities I belong to that is quite often sometimes happens sometimes the public opinion wasn't in your way or you have to tell the public opinion why you voted the way you did with the information that you have but be very cognizant of never use a board member's name despite it's being recorded at the moment and me out the board member or any person as far as that goes about what they said and why they said it and how totally wrong they were uh we have to work together as a team as a group and respect everybody's decisions and opinions no matter if you agree with them or not that's part of life I'm sorry if you don't agree with me on that one but that's why I definitely feel about that so um that's it for the questions do we want to do they have do we want to we had talked about as a group offer chance to ask us questions yeah I think we had talked about y so um we're done with the questions if do you have any questions um for the board as a whole or the two people behind me may have yeah since I have served with three of you no I did not serve with you did I I think so I served the two of them already I wouldn't have any questions for f because I know them very well TR I know him and Spencer I know you I don't have any questions Others May but since I know your philosophies and your your feelings and everything I really don't have anything so okay so I'm just gonna I'm just going to end with thank you and and just kind of talk about next steps um okay I'm going to do this three times so it is what it is um but we are once we're done with the interviews today and you're welcome to to just kind of retire and and watch the rest of the interviews if you'd like um we're going to discuss the positives of every candidate and then um in the operation part of the regular board meeting that starts here in an hour and 10 minutes uh the the board will will make any further discussions and then um they'll nominate nominate someone if they get a second they'll vote um and if that person receives three votes then it's done we won't we don't necessarily take a vote on all three people I just want everyone understand it it's whoever gets nominated and there's a second and then there's a vote so um thank you very much and like said we want to thank you for putting and I want to thank two cand behind me you and and I am not St because I've got thank you position you all right all right anybody want just a couple seconds okay right all right all right next we'll ask Barbara is it WIA did I say it right I'm so sorry welcome it's always the challenge if someone actually gets it right all right you got your timer there 20 minutes there we go first mission success all right why do you want to serve on Central Public Schools Board of Education I have so much passion that I I want to I want to get I have passion for the students I have passion for the district I have passion for Education we offer so many things at this school it needs to be celebrated I mean the fact that you have 13 classes that seniors can take you know if they wanted college education level classes that's a great opportunity fact that you had 100% success rate in graduating in 2024 that's phenomenal these are things to celebrate and I want to build on those things and help Propel us even higher you know help you know bring A New Perspective and just like really share my passion for the children and for their success we are building helping them build their future we're giving them confidence we're giving them resources and support and the tools that they're going to need no matter what they do whether they go to a technical college whether they go to fouryear whether they take on the family business or whether they enter the workforce we're giving them confidence and strength and the support that they need to be well-rounded individuals and I'm just really excited any opportunities I have I've already taken you know advantage of a lot of them you know my volunteer work which is on my resume but I just I want more opportunities to help you know have District 108 be a success and whatever I can do in whatever area um that excites me I I love that passion sorry um what are the biggest challenges facing Central Public Schools and how would you work with the board and administration to address them well there's always challenges right even the well most wellworking machine there's still challenges doesn't mean that we're not doing some things that are great but some of the challenges is increasing our test scores and if we can increase our test scores then we can publicize that we can get that out that's going to help with Recruitment and that's going to help with our funding and help being able to you know have some of the programs we like or enhance some of our programs so those test scores are really really important our enrollment you know why I mean we all probably know the charter schools are we're getting hit on that you know but let's really explore okay what do the charter schools offer that we're not um you know what are they doing that they can't Central has some great things I mean we my son has one friend that used to go to aonia and now goes here because he feels that he's bullied out witha and Central 108 is a safe place for him and that's great that's great to hear you know so that's you know some of those things like what can we do what what type of promotion or connection can we have with the communities to draw the kids here what you know I think we have a great a lot of things that we offer so how do we publicize those you know and then looking at the budget not necessarily that we're going to be able to get more money and we certainly you know we're already going pretty lean it's going to be hard to do budget cuts that's not what I'm talking about but I'm saying you know how what can we do to enhance things that isn't going to cost us a lot you know how can we maybe double up on some things you know like if it's if we're offering a class that we think um can contribute to kids in one way how can we it off that same class we tweak just a little bit to offer things for other students to make it more appealing for them that you know so it's it's not necessarily how do we get more funds because you know we may not if we can increase enrollment we would but how can we best utilize the funds we have and be creative thinking in that brainstorming no idea is stupid that's what brainstorming is you know so it's listening with open ears it's you know and sometimes you're going to come in you're G to think you have a great idea and someone else is going to right away say oh we tried that didn't work or you know but then say okay why didn't work maybe it just wasn't executed right or maybe we can't do that because of this like okay well then let's pivot what else can we think of you know not get so inra to just one idea that we can explore other options thank you than please describe your experience with governance including working within a board or leadership to okay um well I've been in HR my whole career um so I've been the HR Manager for decades I've been the HR Director so obviously I was on the board of multiple different companies um working at that working with that you're looking at the budgets you're looking at um you know how it's run you're looking at the HR perspective and everything I also worked on the Glenco Area Chamber of Commerce so I was on the board of the Chamber of Commerce in Glenco so I'm very familiar with that you know where everybody has their own ideas you're coming together you're all working towards the same thing um but really deciding what ideas are the best and what ideas are we able to execute one idea may be great but we're not able to execute it for various reasons whether it's budgeting time whatever so I have a lot of experience with working with boards and obviously with governance in HR I've always had to keep up on the HR laws and be able to write policies that correspond with that that protect the companies that protect individuals and really looking like okay we're writing this policy I know what I'm thinking but someone that maybe isn't as educated in this or someone that falls into a minority group when they read this policy what are they going to be thinking how are they going to be interpreting it you know and if that's with problem solving with anything you're deciding okay this issue happened like for example once we had a comp we one of our um locations was in Canada and I got a call on a Friday night well Friday at like probably 1:00 and it was a holiday on Monday and I got where our paychecks we didn't get paid and we didn't get paid and I'm like okay I got to go to my payroll down and figure out why you want pay and by the way this isn't the first time and we're going into Canadian holiday on Monday what are we G to do our people don't have money our people don't pay check P so first I like okay first did they get paid oh no I processed like okay we will do address that but now how do we get paid so now I'm working with Canadian Banks and I'm working with my finance department saying how can we wire money to each and each and every individual's International Bank account to get the funds into their accounts and going to the president and saying this is what happened I'm going to address why it happened and work on preventing it in the future but right now I need to get them money are we willing to pay if they have overdraft charges because they went wait for the holiday are we willing to pay their overdraft charges because it's not their fault they're going to get overdraft it's ours because we didn't pay them so making sure we could do that communicating with those people have being online with them saying this is what I'm doing everybody give your bank your bank account number to the office secretary she will against me making sure if I got paid then it's like okay why did they not get paid well I didn't I didn't have time to process okay that's not acceptable you don't have time to process you tell now we have m r 24 hours before processing if you think you're not going to get a process you come to me then I will e the process I will get someone else to help you process or I'll take something else off it but not processing is not acceptable and then what are the consequences if that happens in but you know it's looking at that like solving the immediate Hemorrhage and then going out and finding what we think better it and sometimes it's going to happen I from here we're going to have crisises that come up they're like okay we got to stop whatever's happening and and then we got to figure out why it happened and how we can prevent it from happening again so I think I bring that perspective of being able to be the analytical thinker and looking at the whole problem not just my window okay we'll make sure to pay next thank you how do you believe the district can best prepare students success in evolving world and what rules more play that process I think the way we can best prepare them is to create well-rounded individuals offering a whole different array of things you know somebody that is really into computers maybe thinks that you know what we need computers we don't need don't need but you know some kids do need that they want to career and even if they don't need it they creates a more well-rounded maybe that's how they learn to relieve stress maybe that's something that they're going to be to do their whole life so it's not just about the education it's not just about the Athletics it's not just about um music and art it's how do we create well around it how do we offer those things how do we provide the resources for them to be where they can feel like they can come up and they can talk to you you know I mean it it's creating that Rapport not only with the students but with the teachers and the principles and the community making your SE self accessible that open door is huge because you know you may think you know all the answers coming in like I have all this experience I know all the answers but you know the people that really know what the problems are are the people that are living in the people that are experiencing that if you think you can run a committee or you can run a departments and know how everything is without asking the people that are on the floor what is your concern you know if we want to help the teachers what are the teachers struggling with what do they want what do they need and then can we get that for them you know being that resource for the children's intellectual as well as their mental and their you know that giving them options I love it when I come to pick up my son and the kids that I've been coaching for seven years in soccer give me a high five or even if I only some of them I only cled a couple years and they still come up and they want to give me a hug or something you know I love they have that connection with them and this is I know but two years ago um we had a birthday party and one of the girls at the birthday party she like pulled me over and invied in me that her parents were getting a divorce and and this and that and you know she gave me some details you know and stuff and just knowing that she trusted me enough to tell me those things and that made me feel good it made me feel like I was a resource for her she isn't allowed to see her mom anymore it's a friender very supervised VIs and she felt really sad about that so the fact that she reached out to me as kind of a motherly figure there it made me feel good that I could offer that to so sometimes we don't know what kids need you know she's a very happy girl and you would never think that there's anything going on in your head that's strugling there but sometimes we don't know but we have that open door we can and on the board what is our responsible is to provide those resources and to be governance too we can't give everybody everything but you know we need to be governance we need to guide we need to offer Direction and we need to offer policies and rules for people to follow that needs the what were is required by the government that's required by our own rules and our own guidelines so that it's easy for people to interpret the worst thing is to be in a position or role that you don't know what your next step for you don't know how to responding how you do your job properly because you don't have that guidance and you don't have something down in the policy or procedure that you can refer to to have I think that's probably every decision that's made those are going to be the factors in because you're never going to have a decision where everybody wants the same thing you know so it's really opening up your ears and your hearts because we're all here to succeed we all want the same thing we want District 108 to succeed we want our children to succeed so really opening yourself up and listening to everybody's ideas listening to everybody's thoughts on what we can do going forward have an open discussion so we can all work towards that same goal so if you're you know there's several ways to solve a problem and it might not the way that we decide to solve or offer Direction in it may not be what you want it may not be your first choice but you know that you offer your experience you offer your suggestions your rationale but inevitably if everybody else or the majority of other people think something else then you shift years you pivot and you support that because that's what being on a committee and a board is it's you have those open discussions you come to a decision and then you all move forward in any capacity that you want it might be something that you have a lot of experience in and you're like you know this is the area that I want to help with but you know lots of other people have experienc in that maybe it's going outside of your comfort zone and saying know I don't really know how to do this but I'm willing to try I'm willing to learn I'm willing to you know go online see what I can find out and I'm willing to support it so we have success in the end it doesn't matter whose idea it was it doesn't matter who came up with the master strategy what matters is that you're doing everything in your part to support the success in the end because in this end we all win if we work together together we can do way more than any one person can do on it thank you bar thank you bar okay I wanted to make sure I say the so thank you thank you um for putting your hand in the ring for the for the Central School Board vacancy um uh at this time do you have any questions of of the board' be happy to answer you have any any wonderings I don't any specific questions I'm sure um that I will once if I'm honored enough to be selected I'm sure I will and I'm sure you guys will provide whatever guidance I need to to get me going but I I think I thank you for the opportunity that it was opened up to fill it um and that you're having like an open discussion and considering everybody I think that's great um it's a great reflection on you as a group that you're willing to look at all options and not just be like oh let's just just for this candidate that I've been friends with for years or whatever so um I thank you for that opportunity um and for your openness to all the candidates so um hold on hold on hold on I want to make sure I said so we are going to go on to the last candidate and you are welcome to stay and um so once we're done with the last candidate we're probably going to spend some time discussing the strengths of each candidate and then when we get to the operational part of the of the board meeting that starts at six o'clock um it'll probably be 20 minutes or so in the board meeting um we'll revisit the the um all the candidates some will um the discussion chair will make a call for somebody to make a motion that seconds seconded then um if somebody get three votes then we will um Mo forward with that candidate and you're welcome to stay for the enti entire thank you very much I'll be able to go back and look on on the recording see if I nobody you anything um Anthony B please come forward Tony Anthony okay welcome yeah so um Tony you could reset the timer there to 20 minutes um ready to go okay okay why do you want to serve on the Central Public Schools Board of Education question um really the main reason I want to serve on the school board is I went to school here I graduated in 1996 um it was a great opportunity um it really prepared me for everything that I kind of encountered in my in my future um I went to college at UMD um being from a small town you think you're going to a bigger college and stuff like that it's kind of intimidating but really everything that I encountered at at Central prepared me for going to and being successful in college whether it be from Sports perspective from PSO classes everything um I just felt like there was no situation was too big for me whether it be in my job my career or in school so um as you get older and and into your career you realize that your successes are kind of based on other people helping you out and getting there in a way um I've had a lot of mentors throughout my career and I just feel like the school board kind of falls into that kind of mentoring type of um experience and I want the kids to see that what you can be going to a school and what it has to offer and um how successful you can be and move back to the community and get a job here and be successful have them seen me as maybe a role model um great right what are the biggest challenges facing Central Public Schools and how would you work with the board and administration to address them um I see the a couple different factors just from the outside looking in I think the number one is um trying to get students at a young age so a couple other candidates have brought up like pH Academy and stuff like that I work with a few people that are on the border of slyy East glanco um they have options at different types of schools um so what does Central Public Schools have to offer that other schools don't um I have very young children so I've got to kind of come up through like the Central Elementary School System um and see some of the things that they have to offer whether it be after school care um the um the extra teaching the tutoring um they do really good job um the student teaching ratio of making sure that the the students are in a smaller environment and they get the attention I I feel like at some of the other schools the teacher wouldn't send you an email after school and say hey your student did a great job at X or um maybe your child is struggling and why what can we do to get them up to maybe the the level of some of the other students so um getting the students early and getting them into the central school system so that they can see what everything is offer and can kind of continue through that uh progression there um also the the housing in the community so I'm on the chamber and one of the things we talk about is as the community grows where are people going to live what do we want the community to be is it going to be a commuting Community is it going to be kind of a one-size fitall community so how do you work with that so that when they come to the community they have affordable housing and a place to live and a place that they um feel safe and and successful in um really the last thing too is as you kind of look at some of the other things you know how do Central Schools rate compared to some of the other schools around the area um one of the things I remember from before I had children is as we kind of went through some of the referendums and stuff like that trying to get funding through the school is one of the messages that really resonated with me was a successful school what that can add to your property value so even if you don't have kids having successful schools and having successful students really can add to your property values and once I kind of sat back and thought about that even if you don't have kids you have a vested interest in having a successful and thriving public school system thank you sorry I know right now describe your experience with governance including working within a board for leadership team setting um so really a couple in Myer been manager Bo retail stour for about 20 years before I transition to the banking in the local community so really the the four things that I think of what I think about governance is number one is accountability so throughout my career the one thing is always just being accountable so um if you make a decision stick with it and know the reasons why you made that decision um in the chamber one of the big things is participation so don't just be on the board be an active member of the board and um if you have a opinion on something give your opinion but don't just say the sidelines let everyone else make decisions um be predictable so if you traditionally have a feeling on something don't wake up on Tuesday morning all of a sudden you do have complete 360 you know at least explain to the other peers like why all of a sudden you you feel that way um and really the last thing is being transparent so just uh if you have feelings and reasons for things let people know why you want to do that I think communication is always always key in any situation um I've been a volunteering the community for a long time and including chamber and uh just being out in the community um a lot of things um really as I've come back to the community being a community banking has really helped me to really understand how important Community is um people have choices a lot of different choices nowadays um and you know maybe you're not as competitive on one thing but at the think will they can come in and talk to you and shake your hand and and see you out and about I think makes a big difference and you know how they feel in the confidence they have in you thank you very you District yep I think the the board can be a partner with the school so so listen to what the school's needs are so one of the things that always DS out to me is always like the first thing is just technology I mean things are changing faster than anyone can keep up with um everything from AI to electronics to everything so making sure the students have the latest technology that that they can have um to prepare them for the real world um post secondary um when I was in school I was just kind of starting out but even just a little bit of exposure to some of those things makes a huge difference um I know in in talking with with Tim and some of the things even some of the things we're doing now like really exciting things with job sharing with like some technical careers I mean if you can see something a career before you even do it um your success rate is going to be exponential compared to the kids that that maybe just go to school for something have never done it get into the career and realize that maybe it wasn't exactly what they thought it was going to be so any type of life experience you can get is huge um working with kids in communication um that's one of the things in any job you work in you have to communicate with people whether it be verbal non-verbal um written everything like that so so having those um I always think life skills um it's not something that you learn in a textbook but that's one thing I learned a lot in central was was just life skills in general like you know how do you balance a checkbook how do you make dinner how do you send an email I mean it's just things that people take for granted every day but if but if you don't learn how to effectively do that and communicate it makes a big difference in in kind of how you progress like in life um and then just overall just you know kind of some of the direction that the the board will give so I think about like Direction like in safety for children that's a big concern our schools um how we delegate the resources um to be able to use them the most effectively um and I think just overall the general faciliity so getting that um on Bill through to be able to improve the facilities here I mean it looks like a totally different School than than when I went here and that's a good thing that's really shows the progress you guys done here to really expand so you decision Mak faced with different opinions board members District leadership I I think the biggest thing is is uh starting out is just collaboration so I think um It's always important to collaborate with your peers um and make sure you you do a good job of listening um the Young time in my career I did a lot more talking and listening some people still think that's the case but I do try to listen to everyone's opinion first before trying to formul like my own um as I've gotten older also just just never making a decision right away taking some time to hear other people's opinions um kind of develop your thoughts and then and then kind of decide um I always think too like of the options that are given what would be the best for the community it's really at the end of the day that's why we're here is to is for the students for the community um another thing that uh I've done throughout my career is always have have some sort of mentor in certain situations um and just kind of reaching out as I pondered whether I was going to um get into this or not um one of my mentors um as a gentleman that was on a school board in northern Minnesota for 20 years so I called him and said hey what do you think and uh you know there someone that's impartial that can that can give advice and uh he just said you know whatever you do just make sure you're all in and go for it and uh be the best representative of the community that you can be and that kind of resonated with me and uh really drove me to to want to come out here and meet with you guys interview and and put my hand so thank you Tony um uh first and foremost I want to thank you for um putting your hat in the ring uh to be considered for the school board and at this time if you have any questions of the board we' be happy to answer any questions that you have just I know that it's a shorter term 22 months this what are some of the the biggest challenges you see upcoming as you guys are kind of developing budgets and plans everything the things that you guys are are maybe nervous about or or proud of or some the challenges you guys see start I personally I think where my biggest concern is where the political climate is at our State Legislative right now in the federal government knowing that we have to have a budget on the table by the end of June and I'm not really sure that the state legislature is going to be able to put something together for us to do that so that we will probably be looking at a very conservative budget at that time so I think that that is a very large piece we will have to tackle will be budgeting within the next couple months will be a a difficult piece for us I that was exactly what I was gonna say yeah kud I I I I will add I think there's some there's some bills and we're going to talk about it here in in 45 minutes or at least I'm going to show you some of them um there's some bills on the table that um at the legislature right now this m them that directly take money away from Central Public Schools because we are we are 89 school districts were winners with some of the rules and um and 230 were not winners and the 230 have some big schools in there and they banded together and and and they're getting leverage and and it's just it doesn't it doesn't feel really good to be one of the little guys so I like I'm personally watching that because again like Cher said on June 30th we have to have a budget ready no matter what and that's just it's just difficult so yeah it's a little stressful stressful yeah anyone else well one last question yes um what skills do you would you guys say would be key becoming a good board member I I think that listening and knowing that you're here to represent all the students not not a particular group not not who you know the athletes that your kids maybe were or anything like that like you just have to look at that whole broad like what is best for every student and that like as long as you kind of keep that as your focus you can't make a wrong decision really because you're doing what's best for everybody and that's one of the things that I feel like we've really worked hard on to do and as a new board member was collected listening I mean like you said you get you in public ask just staying neutral Year great come come talk me in a year because I I don't know what right but I'm trying to remind myself I'm not here for me I'm not here for my two kids I'm here for best for everybody's kids and district has so that's what I'm really trying to Central for for myself you know see how easy that is how successful so U I'm GNA go through this is going to end the interview so right after this we're gonna we're going to dialogue about all three candidates you're welcome to stay it's public meeting um at about 550 between 550 and 555 here chair will will kind of watch the clock on that and then later on about 20 minutes in the board meeting into the board meeting um um we will it's in the operational item so at that time Cher as will call for call for a nomination somebody will get nominated if there's a second then there will be a vote if there's not a second then somebody else have to get nominated but that will happen about one hour from right now so you're welcome to stay um and then I think that's all right right thank you can take just a couple minutes kind of look through and jot down kind of want to look at the rating skills and kind of here do you wna can we just can you just want to just take a little time and jot down some notes and then do you want to want to set up when you're done yeah do you want to do you want to say we're gonna take we'll take seven minutes 10 minutes seven minutes okay how that Sol all right yeah it's yeah okay pause I'm gonna 5:30 how's that y sobody has to get up go the bathroom okay I can't turn off the camer it's like getting in the car to go for a ride we're not stopping I hear [Laughter] minutes St TR pretty much sh now he's going to f us [Laughter] what f oh timer's done Tony Red's done that share document that you have in our board meeting uh no I did not put that I I would attach it this one I um do you want me I can share with the board members oh I was just going to put it behind us but I can share with the board members if long I was just going to attach it to the meeting after the fact just share with us so we can not bring her next yep unless we want to here we go that be easier for you guys to see it if it's no I would always so I'm sharing this to your school email address okay so if you go into your school email you'll be able and we finally she phy different issue better and then PT called me last I don't like how this feel I think you need to take her in for an x-ray and so she sent us right over to Scott yeah got us in right away and then we off to and so are they telling her to rest yeah of course they are yeah but she's like no I don't have to bed of a stress fracture before she had it her body was just trying so hard to heal when she keeps pounding on it competition so yeah got it oh really so if you yeah if you go yeah I just sent you an email I share this you not [Music] when you're trying to like write like what is a serial killer every like packs I think I should like qualify for house with as many as we [Music] pass we used to get t-shirt you got to go through the then you get swag swag C and it's like okay they feel very proud very proud they are nice though they hold a lot of stuff yeah I was like that is serious here goes y thank you thank you don't know what's going to happen out there I I have a feeling it's get busy do okay um I didn't I I neglected to say this at the beginning so um for those of people watching at own U we did initially have four candidates um but we uh we had a candidate drop out at the uh this afternoon and so I'm just going to read a quick um statement from Jason Reed dropped out of consideration for the school board candidates or for the school board vacancy um I've been thinking through over the last week in the Comm and with the community involvement at the local level in Cologne that he's committed to or that I've committed to I don't know if I'll be able to give it as much attention as the school and other board members would deserve for me plus I'm still running after three kids I still have in school with a smiley face it is not an easy decision to take lightly and it is consumed over this past weekend and I came to the final decision earlier today I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with me about the vacancy and the process and I want to thank the board members for the consideration I hope this doesn't throw a wrinkle into any any process but I can imagine with me being the last interview it might might provide provide more time to talk with the other candes thank you very much Jason Reed and so um so Jason is is not going to be considered um but now we do have three board memb members or three candidates that we need to consider and so just taking you through the process we're going to talk about strengths um um this is a public meeting so um we need to talk about the the things brought forward in the interview today what you have written down in your notes in front of you not about experience that you've had with another person before what what was the interview let today and so Mr Larson is going to be typing for us so we're going to start we do one candidate as a time at a time just know that when we get to the the operational item in the actual board meeting there's going to be there is discussion during that time too that shs will do so if there if we run out of time now and you and you feel like you have to say some of the things about a candidate there will be one more opportunity fair enough okay so rich are you ready to take all right so I want to say one thing this will not be an easy decision I am very impressed with the qualifications and the answers that everybody gave so kudos to all of you it was did a very wonderful job so thank you so I just want to say that before we jump in thank you so um we're going to start and if you can pull out your your things for Elroy um so we're going to start talking about Eloy so um give Rich time to to catch up I don't he's a pretty fast typer but just make sure that he is he's typing so as you're as you're talking please speak loudly so that that way Rich can hear and he can get the gist of what you're saying in the um the doc so turn Troy you guys maybe stepped out while we Tim email it to you also in case you want to look at it in front of you yeah otherwise you can look all right anyone can start I'll start since I'm on the front end um I'll start and just say that I really appreciated one of the things that he said about hitting the ground running I think that's that is a strength of his at this point just because he does have that background knowledge of what um what it's like to serve on on this board in particular his experience on the school board is a it's a arge string question my question I think you can be stream of conscious yes because and the reason I'm saying that is because somebody may like not every question may have been a strength so we're just knocking the RO strengths um I think from a you know challenges basically I might say this about a lot of applicants but I think think it's relevant here also is just his um Community involvement live with Acceptance in you thinking about students right had very student Centric perspective we talked a lot about listening to everyone yeah I might have lot the school cities as one as the community is growing like that yeah sure I'm sorry can you say that one more time you brought up the idea of what he brought up working this the district working with the cities around as we draw thank you and he does bring a different perspective to the board as far as representing the community not a parent at this time so I I I'm gonna we're gonna sit in silence for a little bit and that's okay it just I'm just trying to let this per point you know what I mean I don't we can go back we can go back but I but I would like to I would I would very much like to like let's talk about all three and then we can go back in add last I mean the around the decision so if you don't agree with the decision makes there anything else anyone iart okay you not seen any so we're going to close talking about STR on Elroy so if you could shift over to Bar um documents um anyone can start and talk about Str that Barbara had in her movie Al I think that one thing right off the GGO for her for or was her passion and your energy excitement to be a part of the board yeah I was G I had positivity written down positivity shall be had the HR background the policy writing I in appreciated the perspective of she took a different approach to she mentioned bringing you know more students in but then she also looked at okay what do we how do we work with what we do have and I really appreciated that too because I think that's one thing that um our board and especially since Tim's been here is really looking at non-traditional ways to save money I appreciated that I think that's a really good perspective I also really appreciated her response around preparing students into well-rounded individuals the whole child there making sent a safe place for students Year I'll Echo the the passion right around students District education in general um so like that the responsible question some research there to so like that so like took the time to look into some of the numbers Str know challenges inre scores asra [Music] Rec Al um problem solving seemed to be pretty big and not just like solve the problem for right now but how do we prevent this from happening again you know more big picture look yeah yeah Rich can you do me a favor can you scroll up just like just so behind itself very thank you similar to I know I said it was for for but just that listening to all will us to have an open discussion open ear is heart down open doors I appreciated the statement we all win if we work together because I feel like especially when it comes to negotiations that's a really important perspective to have as a board member um that nobody's trying to work anyone over it's we're just trying to work together for what we what's the best for everybody [Music] every decision the board makes we probably have some distension between there somebody on the board or strengths or bar that any okay I think we're move on to talk about Tony I do you feel like there is enough time to talk about Tony right now I think so we canut we have to cut it at sounds good or we can just talk more about them when we open it up later sounds good okay so U now we're gonna talk about strengths um from Tony I like how you brought up school to be a mentor I like that um he's a a grad from Central kind of replacing what Connor was also like kind of similar brings a similar perspective I guess to the board I really appreciated his comments around um successful students schools and how that impacts the community at large like that comment that WR we fol really appreciate how you life experience I like how you brought in um the preparing students for Success not just what we offer them in the school but how we keep them safe the maintaining facilities like all of that is part of like very well-rounded as far as like the vision of how to how to make this a successful School gr for our kids I think my favorite answer that he had was the to number three talking about the governance and working with border leadership four things yeah I I was this I miss for my [Laughter] life so I I thought those were all really good um tenants to accountability predictable transparent and I missed one Tony participation participation I got it get it that stuff the board partsology about you know what would be best commity is considering questions can you say that last one one more time please what would be best for the community right as a as a lens for Bo to use the decision thank you I think again like everybody said kind of like that listening you know as far as decision- making but kind of took it a step further wrote down um don't jump to decision making so not only listening but just remaining open while you listen I wrote reflection there yeah I I also appreciated it in that question five when you talk about collaboration any other strings for Tony that any board members want to voice I think I wanted to add to both Tony and Barb I think I had it in other also but they they their experience with volunteering in the community and just being a part of the community both of them was amazing three were amazing Rich can you add that to to thank you I also like sorry finding little things here and there but I also liked how you talked about keeping a mentor and always staying fresh um getting different perspectives from a mentor like that I like the perspective of having young kids I think that's really important we've talked about that with Spencer too but that's an important perspective we're aging out over here are there other strengths just engagement with with chamber anything else yeah guess how we brought job sharing programs anything else any like to add they were all so amazing it's just hard to I'm sure we some on some people but what we'll do is we do have time in the board meeting to open this up again and just reconsider it we'll probably process it for a little bit and then we'll open it up for a nomination yeah um but we can add to it at that time too that sounds good we can adjourn this and then probably need have a motion unless there's anything else to adjourn second motion made by Erics second by robots to adjourn interviews for open the seat any comments all right all those in favor so I all those opposed we are inured reconvene at six at six y so I'm going to end this part and then it'll be another recording for the other one okay