Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools — Transcript
Sunday, October 5, 2025
District Strengths and Achievements
Candidate Qualifications and Experience for School Board
Spanish Immersion Program Implementation
School Safety Measures
Technology Capital Projects Levy
Boundary Adjustments for Overcrowding
Academic Programs and Reading Proficiency for Diverse Learners
Ensuring Feedback and Policy Shaping Opportunities
Votes (10)
Strengths of ISD 196
Dissent: N/A - Forum Discussion
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
Candidates identified several key strengths. Sakawadan highlighted dedicated educators and strong parent/community engagement. Tracy pointed to the district's use of QMP and instructional coaches, as well as magnet schools and STEM tracks. Leah praised the district's fiscal stability and diverse opportunities for students, noting strong test scores. Robin emphasized the 'AAA' philosophy (arts, academics, athletics) and the dedication of all school staff.
Candidate Preparation for School Board Service
Dissent: N/A - Forum Discussion
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
Candidates detailed their relevant experiences. Leah emphasized her nonprofit work in hunger relief and advocacy, focusing on marginalized communities. Robin cited extensive volunteerism in the district (PTOs, advisory councils) and strategic board service for nonprofits like the Minnesota Children's Museum. Tracy highlighted her HOA leadership, budget analysis, pension advocacy, and 25 years as an educator. Sakawadan referenced his 20+ years in public finance with state and local government, managing multi-million dollar budgets, and his deep involvement as a parent.
Support for a Spanish Immersion Program (Lightning Round)
Dissent: None
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
All four candidates (Tracy, Sakawadan, Leah, Robin) provided a 'Yes' response.
Explanation for Supporting and Funding a Spanish Immersion Program
Dissent: N/A - Forum Discussion
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
Tracy emphasized multilingual learners' success and suggested expanding to Somali and Hmong immersion, proposing funding through district restructuring, specific grants, federal agencies, and corporate partners like 3M. Sakawadan aligned support with the district's equity and inclusion strategic goals, acknowledging funding challenges. Robin noted community interest and the power of immersion, suggesting housing the program within an existing school for cost-effectiveness. Leah highlighted the equity aspect for Spanish-speaking families learning to read and stressed the need for a comprehensive long-term plan.
Actions to Increase School Safety
Dissent: N/A - Forum Discussion
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
Robin highlighted the district's proactive measures from a bond referendum, including secure vestibules and new door sensors, and ongoing efforts not publicly discussed. Leah expressed heartbreak over recurring shootings, emphasizing a multi-layered approach with mental health access and sensible gun laws, and praised student leadership on the issue. Tracy shared her daily fear as an educator, advocating for advanced technology like the SAS Halo system and Stop It Solutions. Sakawadan stressed that safety is a non-negotiable top priority for parents, calling for a multi-layered approach with partnerships and continued investment in buildings and mental health support.
Support for ISD 196 Technology Capital Projects Levy
Dissent: N/A - Forum Discussion
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
All candidates voiced absolute support for the levy. Sakawadan emphasized technology as crucial for education delivery and future careers. Tracy highlighted its necessity for global competitiveness, safety, and modernizing equipment like Chromebooks and iPads, acknowledging community concerns about screen time but stressing balance. Robin underscored technology's pervasive role in all student fields. Leah explained the levy as a renewal and modest increase, crucial to avoid cuts and absorb rising costs, especially given potential decreases in state/federal funding.
Support for District Boundary Adjustments to Address Overcrowding (Lightning Round)
Dissent: None
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
All four candidates (Robin, Leah, Tracy, Sakawadan) provided a 'Yes' response.
Explanation for Supporting Boundary Adjustments to Address Overcrowding
Dissent: N/A - Forum Discussion
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
Leah acknowledged the impact on families but stressed the necessity to address crowding and underutilized schools, ensuring a consistent experience for all students. Robin noted that adjustments, based on demographer predictions, were thoughtful and necessary, leading to more reasonable class sizes. Sakawadan recalled community concerns about overcrowding and the need to improve safety and learning conditions. Tracy supported the restructuring as crucial for equitable education, especially for special education and multilingual learners, as overcrowding impacted service delivery and teacher-student ratios.
Meeting Needs of Diverse Learners and Reading Proficiency
Dissent: N/A - Forum Discussion
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
Tracy acknowledged low reading scores (56.7%) and concerns about historically excluded groups, advocating for cross-content reading and addressing math/science deficits post-COVID and No Child Left Behind. Sakawadan noted the post-pandemic need for catching up and the district's focus on data and continuous improvement, seeking input from experienced educators. Leah stated that while above state averages, the district is not satisfied, recognizing racial and income-based gaps and ongoing work to adapt models and apply best practices. Robin highlighted teachers' efforts with new curriculum and the use of FastBridge for baseline data and differentiation, reducing standardized testing time.
Ensuring Feedback Opportunities for Families, Staff, and Students
Dissent: N/A - Forum Discussion
Moved by N/A - Candidate Forum · Seconded by N/A - Candidate Forum
Robin emphasized being available to listen, pointing to committee involvement and advocating for student representation on the school board and 360-degree reviews for leadership. Leah pushed for more two-way dialogue, virtual options for advisory committees, and actively seeking student voice. Tracy advocated for an open door/heart policy, informal meeting opportunities, and valuing student voice for choice and school improvement. Sakawadan stated he consistently asks for feedback on policy decisions, reads advisory committee minutes, and follows up on community input from meetings and surveys.
Notable Quotes (26)
the dedication of our educators. We have a high impact um dedicated educators and uh this is what really makes our district uh uh as a uh district of choice for many.
One thing that I would note off the top is our uh, fiscal stability. We have gotten awards for fiscal transparency and I and I think there's just a lot that goes into a district of this size and making everything balanced.
one namely is our AAA philosophy of arts, academics and athletics... that really does allow every student to find their place and to find their people.
a big part of what I do every day is um make sure that we're engaging the voices of marginalized communities so that we can best understand um how to how to move forward with with the best solutions possible.
my experience on boards such as uh the Minnesota Children's Museum board along with others gives me a good view of that delineation between um a strategic board versus um a more operational one.
My day job I've know I've been with the state and state government and I've been all around the policies and policy making uh put together legislative uh proc you know legislative recommendations multiple different agencies over the years.
working on budgets and analyzing budgets and understanding how people on a fixed income feel about tax increases and property tax increases and that kind of thing, especially when it goes to schools and school systems, has been really significant for me to have a voice for them and to be a voice for them as well.
students that are multilingual learners have significant success in schools... creating schools like Spanish immersion schools to me are just the first step. I would like to see a Somali immersion school as well come into the district and any other languages that are honored Mong immersion school as well.
as a district we have a strategic goal. If you have seen our strategic goals pretty much says that we are you know equity and inclusion is really important to us being uh inclusive basically is why I'm saying yes.
this is about if your first language is Spanish, think about having to learn to read in your second language. And so when we look at where we have gaps in achievement um you know I think as soden said this is really in line with our equity priorities.
our district was thinking of this um some time ago with our bond referendum where we um created safe uh vestibules in or secure vestibules in all of our schools along with the software for checking people in.
It's not something that schools can address alone... That includes more access to mental health and sensible gun laws. I will say that I am so proud that our students took leadership on exactly that.
Every day that I walk into my job, I'm afraid for my life and for my students lives... I think of different programs that are out there, for example, like the SAS Halo system.
it's really technology is an important aspect of education delivery... It's not only investment to the education in the classroom. I think it is and absolutely believe it is investment to the future.
if we want students to compete on a global level, we do need to make sure that our technology is up to date and is upgraded.
this is a renewal and a modest increase. So what that means is that if we don't re the renewal part means we're going backwards um approximately 9 and a half million if we don't do this. So, we will be cutting if we don't pass this.
when we talk about the level of crowding that we that we were starting to experience in some parts of the district while in other parts having schools that frankly aren't efficient anymore... there's just a lot of reason that we want to provide a consistent experience for all of our students.
the district does use a demographer whose name is escaping me, but they've used her for a long time to predict trends. So any changes are very thoughtful and they take a lot of time to make them.
if we want again if we want students to compete on a global level um restructuring and resoning within school districts is absolutely necessary so that students can receive the appropriate services from working with special education teachers to working with a counselor and even getting that teacher time one-on-one.
again, looking at the reading scores, they came out to 56.7% with reading scores that low, students cannot compete on a global level... it's students from historically excluded groups.
we have gaps by both race and income um on this and so I I would like to see those gaps go away... a ton of work has gone into that in in the last year uh to change our model.
I do want to acknowledge that our teachers did a very heavy lift with new curriculum last year and they really hit the ground running implementing that... One is a program called FastBridge where we're testing students to get some baseline data so that teachers can then use that data to more differentiate within the classroom.
I think there is a very meaningful opportunity to have students as a part of our school board. We're still working out and hammering out the details of how that could happen because we want to do it thoughtfully and correctly in a way that's meaningful for both the student and so that we are getting meaningful information as well.
I'm looking for and pushing for is is more opportunities that aren't one-way conversation... I think we need to restructure how those conversations happen and and who's able to speak um on what topics.
I love student voices because student voice gives us choice. When we learn what they need and what they want, we're able to make our schools better because again in using systems thinking um adults are static in the system and it's all about students.
every time that there's a piece of policy or decision that comes in that I know will impact uh our students, families and then um staff I always ask you the question did we get a feedback?
Ordinances & Resolutions (20)
The event being transcribed and analyzed, hosted by the League of Women Voters Dakota County.
Policy of not holding candidate forums when there is only one unopposed candidate.
An initiative led by Leah Gardner to secure free school meals for all students.
Quality Management Program, mentioned by Tracy as a professional development service used by the district.
Leadership and board training completed by Sakawadan Muhammad.
Leadership and board training completed by Sakawadan Muhammad.
Minnesota School Board Association required trainings completed by Sakawadan Muhammad.
ISD 196 strategic goals, which Sakawadan Muhammad mentioned include equity and inclusion.
Legislation mentioned by Tracy that went through last year, related to reading instruction.
Report cited by Tracy regarding college professors' concerns about students' reading, critical thinking, and analysis skills.
Federal education act mentioned by Tracy in the context of teachers stopping instruction in social studies and science to focus on reading and math.
A program mentioned by Robin Serio used for testing students to get baseline data for differentiated instruction.
A ballot question in November for ISD 196 voters to renew and increase an expiring levy providing approximately $15.5 million annually for educational technology, security, computer science, and infrastructure.
A safety technology system mentioned by Tracy that uses a perimeter to detect weapons approaching a school.
A safety technology mentioned by Tracy that allows teachers to trigger a school alarm.
A survey mentioned by Sakawadan Muhammad as a means to gather feedback from the community.
District website for information about the technology levy.
Website for the League of Women Voters of Dakota County.
Website for general voting information.
Website for information about voting and candidates.