These honors are spread equitably across our states and territories. Semi-finalists will fulfill further steps this year to be named finalists in the spring of 2026. In addition, students from our schools who are first generation college board were also honored by the National Merit Organization.

Our semi- finalist and finalist students will be eligible for over $33 million in scholarships within this program. The scholarships are from the National Merit Program, corporate sponsors, and of course, colleges and universities who frankly vi pretty hard to get these students to enroll in their schools so they can brag about it.

The plaque reads performing arts school of excellence Egan High School, Minnesota in recognition of National Performing Arts Week, a week dedicated to reminding the public of the first class programs that exist for our youth today. The presentation of this plaque is bestowed upon a school that exemplifies the characteristics of excellence, pride, community involvement, and dedication to performing arts.

Egan High School embodies everything that is that the award is meant to celebrate. The achievements of its music, theater, speech, debate, and visual arts programs are extraordinary. But what truly stands out is the way these programs nurture creativity, leadership, and confidence. Egan has built a model for the nation in showing how the performing arts can transform students lives and enrich entired communities.

We are pleased to announce officially that the Association of School Business Officials International ASPO ASBO has once again awarded District 196 the meritorious budget award for the fiscal year 2025 2026. This is our 11th consecutive year of recognition which is just amazing.

As Christopher Aneno Rubshaw, our director of finance, and Danny regularly say, the budget is more than numbers. It reflects our priorities and represents our commission, our commitment to our mission to educate, develop, and inspire students for lifelong success.

Kathy Gillan Melville, who was chosen for her transformative presence as a longtime head coach of the Egan High School girls volleyball team. She led the Wildcats to seven state championships and 16 crowns, six section crowns during her 30 years leading the program.

Later in this meeting, the school board will be asked to approve a resolution designating this week, October 13 through 17th, as nutrition services employees appreciation week.

Today, district 196 students along with all students in the state of Minnesota had dedicated instructional time to having meaningful conversations about sovereignty, cultural contributions, and contemporary issues facing native nations.

Overall, the October 1st enrollment report provides a few a few key highlevel takeaways for our district. First, our district continues to experience strong, stable enrollment without any significant volatility enrollment district-wide or at the various levels.

The district's October 1st enrollment count was 28,934 students for the 2526 school year.

When you're counting 29,000 students and projecting where we are, and you're off by 0.3%, that's not even a thing. That's that's not a thing.

School safety is the foundation that supports all four of our district's strategic priorities. A safe and secure environment promotes well-being by reducing stress, fostering trust, and ensuring students and staff feel cared for and protected.

By adopting SRP districtwide, we now provide a consistent safe experience across all buildings, reinforcing our commitment to uniform safety practices.

So, yeah, our tip line is internal and a tip comes in, they can actually um also upload photos or any other sometimes it's through a social media piece if they've taken a screenshot and they can put it in there to give more information.

When we say assist of technology, we mean any device, software, or equipment that helps students access learning and demonstrate knowledge. This can be as simple as a pencil grip or as advanced as a speech generating device or screen reader.

It's really helped her kind of pinpoint that specific communication to where um she can talk like you and I. um you know and it's more or less a different language that she's uh been able to learn which is pretty amazing you know as a girl that hears English and you know has to translate it to a technology piece.

Because of what he communicated using these visuals, the nurse was able to examine his ears and discovered an infection. She worked with his family to ensure he received the care he needed. This experience is a powerful example of presuming competence and honoring the way our students communicate.

In district 196, we have approximately 476 students from birth to age 22 that are using iPads as speech generating devices. That is nearly a 2,000% increase since 2014.

I love that you presume competence from these students. Um, it's just very, I think, validating for them.

The financial terms of this agreement include a 3.25% 25% increase on wages in year 1 and year two. An increase of 9.5% in year 1 and 7% in year two to district contribution to health insurance. A 1% to longevity pay or increase to longevity pay in year 1 and two.

Tonight we ask the school board to approve the clerical bargaining agreement for the 2527 term.